Bombshells are trashed
EX-HAWKS BOSS DENIES CAPTURE
CONTROVERSIAL ex-Hawks boss Berning Ntlemeza has dismissed former deputy finance minister Mcebisi Jonas’ explosive testimony before the commission of inquiry into state capture as “rubbish”. He was reacting after Jonas made the startling revelation at the commission yesterday that his life was threatened by the Guptas, after he refused to take a multimillion-rand bribe to take the position as head of the ministry. Jonas is giving evidence before the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into State Capture. Jonas said he did not report the R600 million and R600 000 bribes he was offered by one of the Gupta brothers, because he had lost faith in the criminal justice system and believed the Hawks were politically manipulated.
Jonas said he received a call from Ntlemeza who asked him to give a statement after DA MP David Maynier laid criminal charges against Atul and Ajay Gupta as well as Duduzane Zuma.
According to Jonas’ statement, Major-General Zinhle Mnonopi, acting Hawks head in the Eastern Cape, contacted him and told him he was investigating the complaint laid by Maynier in May 2016.
Ntlemeza yesterday dismissed Jonas’ testimony, saying he did not co-operate with the Hawks team investigating the matter.
“My team spent time running around looking for him for the statement he issued to be made into affidavit form,” said Ntlemeza, adding that Jonas eventually complied and submitted the March 2016 press statement confirming media reports that the Guptas had offered him R600m and R600 000 in order to appoint him as Nhlanhla Nene’s replacement as finance minister if he agreed to “work” for the controversial family. “When I was head of the DPCI (Directorate of Priority Crimes Investigation) my mandate was to ensure that all cases were investigated thoroughly and taken to court,” Ntlemeza said.
However, Jonas testified that Mnonopi arrived at his office with a prepared statement while he was with his lawyer Max Boqwana.
Mnonopi allegedly told Jonas the case was the DA’s, must be “killed” in the presence of Boqwana and that the statement was a matter of formality as she had secured a deal with the prosecutor handling the matter.
Jonas refused to sign Mnonopi’s prepared statement, saying he was not surprised by their approach as they were highly compromised.
Asked by Phillip Mokoena, a member of the commission’s legal team leading his evidence, whether he had introduced
Boqwana to Mnonopi as his lawyer, Jonas said he did and they knew each other from the Eastern Cape.
Among the first people Jonas told about the Guptas bribe, which included R600 000 cash in a bag, was his boss at the time, then-finance minister Nhlanhla Nene, current Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan and his wife as well as then-ANC treasurer-general Zweli Mkhize, who told him (Jonas) he heard rumours about the Guptas’ offer.
”Mkhize was shocked,” Jonas said.
Jonas said one of the Gupta brothers he met at the family’s Saxonwold compound threatened to kill him if he ever told anyone about the meeting which was facilitated by former president Jacob Zuma’s son and another controversial figure, Fana Hlongwane.
“This meeting did not happen hey… you say anything to anyone, if you suggest (this) meeting occurred, we will kill you,” Gupta allegedly told Jonas. He said he could not tell who the boastful and loud Gupta brother was – either Ajay or Rajesh – but found him very stupid and at some point he (Jonas) thought the Gupta brother was going to punch him.
Jonas testified that the Gupta brother even dragged him to an area that looked like a bar inside the compound.
All the time the Gupta brother spoke to him, Jonas said, it was as if he was listening to the radio.
Duduzane and Hlongwane were sitting as though they did not exist, according to Jonas.
Both Duduzane and the Gupta brother told Jonas that the former president liked him.
Political analyst Thabani Khumalo said Jonas’s submission at the commission yesterday, was very telling of a “threatening atmosphere” that pervaded government’s top ranks.
“It’s purely criminal what’s been going on.
“The Hawks should have investigated these matters years back, but instead, it had been allowed to pervade the structures in the government, even the security structures that should have protected people.
“Jonas’s submission shows that the atmosphere was very threatening and information that should have been made public was silenced.
“If you look at it closely, you will see that the people at the centre of state capture had planned, organised and executed their strategy such that the officials who they cornered were not secure, and they had nobody to protect them,” said Khumalo.
He said now that the situation was “safer”, he expected more details to emerge, revealing what had been happening for many years behind closed doors.
Jonas will return to complete his testimony after reading the transcript of the interview he had with ex-public protector Thuli Madonsela during her probe that recommended the setting up of the state capture commission.
On Monday, Zondo will hear applications from some of the individuals implicated in state capture as stated in the commission’s terms of reference.
Boqwana and Hawks spokesperson Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi did not respond to requests for comment yesterday.