Former Bosasa chief operating officer Angelo Agrizzi has admitted to being a racist after a recording in which he uses the k-word to describe his former colleagues Papa Leshabane and Johannes Gumede was played at the state capture commission of inquiry on Tuesday.
Evidence leader Paul Pretorius said the commission's legal team described the utterances in the clip as ''nakedly racist and grossly offensive''.
Agrizzi, who spent his last day on the witness stand, asked the commission to play the whole three hour long video to understand "where it all came from" adding that he was provoked.
The recording was shared widely on social media platforms.
''I am racist...judge me on that...its fine,'' Agrizzi said, before apologising, adding that he was ''embarrassed and ashamed''.
He said he knew he was being recorded and that those who did it possibly wanted to protect themselves. In the recording, Agrizzi is heard ranting and repeating the k-word.
Pretorius said Agrizzi's racist remarks had implications on everyone and the rest of the country.
''It will be put to you that your entire motivation for whistleblowing is racism. What is your view on that?''
Agrizzi replied: ''I admitted I was wrong, I paid the price for this...the two people I refer to using the k-word are [Bosasa executives] Papa Leshabane and Joe Gumede. I was wrong and there is no excuse....when people threaten you, you do these stupid things. It was directed at me and done in the privacy of my own home.''
Chairperson Deputy Chief Justice Zondo told Agrizzi that his reply did not make any difference to what he said in the recording.
''Are you saying you are entitled to be racist inside your house?'' Zondo asked
''Chairperson...there is no excuse...I ask you to look at the facts, I did what I did here, I can't influence your decision... but what I can do is ask you to allow whistleblowers to come through,'' Agrizzi said.
Zondo said Agrizzi's evidence would be examined as required from a judge even though he described the audio as extremely offensive and unacceptable
Agrizzi believes the recording was used to discredit his evidence.
- African News Agency (ANA)
