Vanara was chairing a Parliamentary inquiry into Eskom at the time. Bongo is accused of offering Vanara a blank cheque to derail the probe.

Bongo faces a corruption charge on the matter and was released on R5,000 bail on Thursday.

He spoke to eNCA in an exclusive interview, also saying the charge against him is an effort to discredit him. "I've never bribed or attempted to bribe the advocate," Bongo said.

"Advocate Vanara didn't have the capacity to stop the inquiry that was sanctioned by Parliament."

Bongo also claimed that he had been poisoned.

"I was in Cuba for treatment of the poison I got recently," he said.

"I was given poison. I was going to finalise my treatment in Cuba.

"I had to cut my trip short to come and attend to the police."

eNCA