Cape Town — Parliament Speaker, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, will wait to hear her judgement on 2 April after the Pretoria High Court ruled she will not face immediate arrest.
Pretoria High Court Judge, Sulet Potterill, heard Mapisa-Nqakula’s urgent application on Monday to interdict the National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) Investigating Directorate (ID) from arresting her. She made the decision to delay proceedings until 3pm yesterday to review the court papers submitted by both parties, IOL reported.
During the proceedings, the Speaker’s legal counsel, Reg Willis, argued against her arrest, stating that she posed no risk of self-harm, harm to others or interference with witnesses.
He said the NPA refused to provide his client with a formal pledge about her arrest, saying the media knew more about the case than she did. He added that the State cannot conceal “evidence” that it has against Mapisa-Nqakula.
[WATCH] Judgment has been reserved in National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula’s urgent application against the NPA. She wants the Pretoria High Court to stop the NPA from arresting her. @JuniourKhumalo_ has more. #Newzroom405 pic.twitter.com/bObbaGszJ5
— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) March 25, 2024
In response to Willis’ claims, the NPA counsel Makhosi Gwala argued that it never threatened to arrest Mapisa-Nqakula and that the State had asked her to hand herself over to the authorities and then appear in court, The Citizen reported.
Gwala argued the Speaker and her lawyers had shown no reasonable arguments why she needed to urgently interdict the State from arresting her, saying their decision to force the State to respond to the case on Monday is “an abuse of process” and that no one can claim a “right not to be arrested”.
“The applicant is trying to frustrate us from performing our statutory function. It’s unheard of that one demands a docket before they are charged. We cannot treat people according to their status, this will collapse the judicial system.” he said.
Gwala said widespread reporting on the case against Mapisa-Nqakula has already damaged her reputation.
Corruption Watch executive director Karam Singh weighs in on National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula’s attempt to interdict the NPA’s Independent Directorate from arresting her on allegations of corruption and money laundering.https://t.co/WLpV1c1WQ5#Newzroom405 pic.twitter.com/zIXSao4pWr
— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) March 25, 2024
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
