Cape Town — Parliament secretary, Xolile George, has confirmed that he is not aware of a request made to cover the legal costs of former National Assembly speaker, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula in her fraud and corruption case.
Mapisa-Nqakula controversially resigned from her position as NA speaker in April following a raid on her home by the Hawks, which had followed her taking a special leave of absence amid the corruption charges.
Xolile George confirmed that parliament has not received any request to cover Mapisa-Nqakula’s request, The Citizen reported.
“We have not been made aware any requests that have been made. So, I’m not aware, I can hear the question, but Parliament is not sitting with any application that would have come from the former speaker,” George said.
Secretary to Parliament Xolile George says he is not aware of a request for Parliament to cover the legal costs of former National Assembly speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula on her fraud and corruption case. George says Parliament is not seating with any request.
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Mapisa-Nqakula was charged with 12 counts of money laundering and corruption charges and was accused of receiving kickbacks related to tenders worth R2.3 million during her time as Defence Minister. She is currently out on R50 000 bail with conditions.
She had approached the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) to pay the legal fees in her case, but Defence Minister Thandi Modise gave the outcome of Mapisa-Nqakula’s request, EWN reported.
“The matter has received attention from ourselves. We then looked at the provisions in the law, whether or not we can accede to such a request, and we found that in terms of Section 6.2 of the State legal representation policy, we cannot help the former minister and therefore, we will not be doing so.” Modise said.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
