Cape Town — The topsy-turvy story surrounding Parliament Speaker, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, has taken another turn after she revealed she was shocked to discover reports of her arrest.
Mapisa-Nqakula called out the leader of the United Democratic Movement, Bantu Holomisa, for spreading untruths and sparking what she called a media frenzy. Her office released a statement, slamming media houses for making claims that she’s been arrested and was set to appear in court, EWN reported.
Her office said she’s at home with her family and has had no interaction with the National Prosecuting Authority’s Investigating Directorate since their search and seizure operation on Tuesday.
She also said she’s been subjected to a trial by media and is demanding the case docket to prepare her defence.
Newzroom Afrika’s @JuniourKhumalo_ sums up the developments around National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula following reports of her pending arrest and subsequent interdict.
Watch: https://t.co/Aa75jLcTaH
#Newzroom405 pic.twitter.com/OYrh0egZ58— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) March 22, 2024
According to The Citizen, Parliament called on media houses to verify their facts before publishing any information and emphasised the importance of accurate reporting and responsible journalism.
“These reports are simply not true and a fabrication by Mr Holomisa, who simply published these untruths without caring to verify the true facts or the harm that it does to the name of others,” the Parliament statement read.
According to parliament, Mapisa-Nqakula considers the claims against her as “baseless” allegations and it confirmed that the speaker was in fact at home with family.
“In her papers the speaker urges the NPA to provide to her the details of the case against her as this seems to have already been given to the media, subjecting her to a trial by the media, without any means to defend herself against these public allegations.”
Mapisa-Nqaluka has already made headlines twice this week after her house was raided by the Hawks on Tuesday, and she subsequently applied to take special leave on Thursday.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
