Suspended Hawks boss withdraws application to cross-examine Jonas at state capture inquiry

The suspended head of the Hawks’ anti-corruption unit‚ Major-General Zinhle Mnonopi‚ has made a surprise withdrawal of her application to cross-examine former deputy finance minister Mcebisi Jonas on his evidence at the state capture inquiry.

Mnonopi’s lawyer‚ Vincent Siwela‚ told Judge Raymond Zondo that his client was withdrawing her entire application as it might prejudice her.

Mnonopi was suspended by Hawks head General Godfrey Lebeya last week following Jonas’s testimony that she tried to get him to sign a false statement in order to “kill the case” relating to the alleged attempt by Ajay Gupta to bribe him.

Following Jonas’s media statement in March 2016 confirming that the Guptas tried to offer him the position of finance minister and a R600-million bribe‚ charges were laid with the police by DA MP David Maynier and Cope MP Dennis Bloem.

Jonas said Mnonopi had presented him and his lawyer‚ Max Boqwana‚ with a statement claiming that he did not want to cooperate with the police.

“Major-General Mnonopi told us that this was a ‘DA matter’ and that I did not want to help the DA and that they wanted to kill the case‚” Jonas testified.

During applications by various legal teams to cross-examine witnesses who appeared before the state capture inquiry‚ Siwela told Zondo that Mnonopi no longer wished to pursue the application to cross-examine Jonas.

Mnonopi is facing internal investigation into her conduct on the Jonas case.

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