Leaked pictures show that a day after the control of Bosasa was handed back to Gavin Watson and his fellow directors, armed security guards were called in to escort staff off the premises after they were summarily suspended on Friday morning.

News24 understands the suspended staff members, one of whom was summarily dismissed, co-operated with provisional liquidators and as a result, were forced to leave. 

WATCH: Hugs, song and joy as ‘triumphant’ Gavin Watson returns to Bosasa

On Thursday, the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg granted Bosasa’s application for an order declaring the special resolutions the company’s board had taken to place it under voluntary liquidation on February 12, null and void.

The court ordered the provisional liquidators, Cloete Murray, Tania Oosthuizen and Ralph Lutchman, to hand over control of the company to its directors within 12 hours.

A video shared on Twitter on Thursday showed a triumphant Watson returning to the offices while staff sang and hugged him.

^{One of two armed security guards who escorted a senior Bosasa staff member from her office on Friday. She was suspended pending an investigation allegedly because she cooperated with liquidator Cloete Murray. (Supplied)}

Watson’s daughter Lindsay, who also worked at the company and who was fired by Murray in his capacity as liquidator, was spotted at the Bosasa offices on Friday morning from at least 07:00.

Watson himself was also there from around the same time.

Murray and his colleagues, who are among other liquidators who were appointed, were also ordered to pay the costs of the application in their personal capacities as they had opposed the application. However, eNCA reported that they would appealing the court’s decision. Despite several requests to Murray and his attorneys, News24 was unable to verify the decision to appeal. 

Witch hunt 

News24 has learnt that staff who had co-operated with Murray and the others in any way have been suspended “pending investigation”.

So far, at least four staff members have been suspended, News24 understands, and more may follow.

This includes Gina Pieters and Magda van Rensburg, who have both been employed at Bosasa for around 18 years.

^{A second guard, armed with a rifle, is seen standing outside the Bosasa staff member’s office. She was escorted out of her office by the guards after being suspended pending an investigation, allegedly stemming from her cooperation with liquidators. In the foreground is an HR representative. (Supplied)} 

Van Rensburg was informed that her contract was summarily terminated after she was escorted from her office by the armed guards, dressed in Blackrox Intelligence Security Services uniforms, Bosasa’s security subsidiary company. 

Two others, whose names are known to News24, were also suspended.

Pieters was previously an assistant to former Bosasa chief operations officer Angelo Agrizzi, while Van Rensburg previously worked as an assistant to Andries van Tonder, the former chief financial officer.

Both Agrizzi and Van Tonder have appeared before the Zondo commission of inquiry into state capture to give evidence of grand corruption at Bosasa spanning nearly two decades.

Bosasa director and spokesperson Papa Leshabane declined to comment on the suspensions.

“Your moles have given you information, do what you want with it,” Leshabane said.

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