Cape Town — The corruption case against former National Assembly speaker, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, has been postponed to 16 October and is set to move to the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria.
Mapisa-Nqakula briefly appeared in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday morning and during the proceedings, the defence was informed by the state that a date had been arranged for a pre-trial, The Citizen reported.
“A high court date in this matter has been secured for pre-trial purposes. The date has been arranged between the state, defence as well as the clerk of the high court,” the prosecutor told the court.
Mapisa-Nqakula faces 12 charges of corruption after she allegedly received kickbacks for a defence contract valued at R4.5 million. During her court proceedings, she was also served with an indictment of the charges against her.
According to National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson, Henry Mamothame, the state was now ready to go ahead after completing its investigation into the case, EWN reported.
“We believe we have sufficient evidence for us to ventilate this matter in a court of law, but as you may know, that decision lies solemnly with the judge. But we believe we have gathered sufficient evidence for us to prosecute Mapisa-Nqakula,” Mamothame said.
The corruption case against former National Assembly speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has been postponed to October 16. She faces 13 counts of corruption and money laundering for allegedly soliciting bribes worth millions from contractors during her tenure as defence minister… pic.twitter.com/XrVG3um8jK
— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) July 9, 2024
The corruption allegations were made by well-known defence industry businesswoman Nombasa Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu, TimesLIVE reported.
According to the indictment, a few days after the awarding of the contract, Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu was told the contract had been suspended. To rectify the situation, she contacted certain people and was provided with Mapisa-Nqakula’s contact number, which she phoned to investigate the matter.
In November 2016, Mapisa-Nqakula allegedly requested that the late secretary of defence, Sam Gulube, approach Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu and ask for R3o0 000, which was handed to Gulube.
The state said Gulube made another request on behalf of Mapisa-Nqakula, this time asking for R400 000, but Ntonsdwa-Ndhlovu denied and asked to meet with Mapisa-Nqakula instead.
A meeting was arranged between the two in December 2016 and Mapisa-Nqakula allegedly confirmed the requests, and the agreement was that future engagements would happen directly between the two women.
State confident of the case against Mapisa-Nqakula. The fraud and corruption case of disgraced former speaker of parliament Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has been referred to the North Gauteng High Court. #RealNewsForMobile RO. https://t.co/sQS9AyFTGd
— Scrolla Africa (@ScrollaAfrica) July 9, 2024
Mapisa-Nqakula Faces Corruption Allegations: What We Know reported that Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu allegedly met with Mapisa-Nqakula on 12 different occasions in Pretoria and Johannesburg, where bribes were solicited to the tune of R4 550 000. Of these requests for money, the State contends that the minister received bribes of R2 150 000.
Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu has turned State witness. In her bail application, Mapisa-Nqakula slammed the State’s case against her as exceedingly weak.
Prosecutor Bheki Manyathi disputed this and said the State had independently obtained evidence corroborating Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu’s version.
Follow African Insider on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Picture: X/@Am_Blujay
For more African news, visit Africaninsider.com
Compiled by Matthew Petersen
