Cope's spokesman Dennis Bloem Cope's spokesman Dennis Bloem
While it appears some will only appear before the Commission into State Capture after being dragged kicking and screaming, there are some, like Dennis Bloem, who cannot wait to testify.
Bloem, spokesperson of Cope, has been coming to the commission hearings almost every day.
On Tuesday, Cope issued a statement that Bloem was “to appear before the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into State Capture tomorrow (case dating back to 2010)”.
“When testifying before the Zondo Commission, former ANC MP Vytjie Mentor, mentioned our spokesperson’s name.
“Mentor told the commission that she told Mr Bloem about her meeting with the Guptas and that they offered her a position.
“Mentor also said she told Mr Bloem that Barbara Hogan was going to be fired,” the statement said.
It was not immediately clear what the 2010 case was about.
Giving no further details, Bloem himself asked that he be allowed to testify first before the commission.
In her testimony in August, Mentor had said: “I did not go public on the Saxonwold incident immediately.
“The joint standing committee on intelligence, of which I was a member, met on Wednesdays.
“Shortly after my encounter with Mr Zuma and the Guptas at their residence, I did disclose to a few members of the committee what had happened at my recent meeting with Mr Zuma.
“They were Hlengiwe Mgabadeli, Dennis Bloem and Siyabonga Cele, the chair of the committee. They all took interest in my account.”
Bloem follows the proceedings with great interest.
He says he has known Mentor “since the days of the UDF (United Democratic Front)”.
They are not from the same home town, Bloem says. He is originally from Free State while Mentor is from Kimberley, in Northern Cape. But they have always made time for very warm chats at the commission.
In our August 26 edition, this newspaper had written: “Former ANC MP Vytjie Mentor also sat in the audience. Her testimony promises to be more damning on the so-called Zupta empire than Jonas.”
She curtly told this reporter that she had nothing to say before her own appearance before the commission but that she had absolute faith in the process “otherwise I’d not be here”.
Bloem was besides himself with glee, hugging and reminiscing with Mentor: “Those implicated must go to jail.”
After Barbara Hogan concluded her testimony on Wednesday, former director-general of the Government Communications and Information System Mzwanele Manyi insisted on responding to Phumla Williams.
Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo is yet to allocate a date to Bloem.