Former National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula will face her corruption case alone when the matter goes to trial in a higher court. On Tuesday, Mapisa-Nqakula returned to the dock in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court for her second appearance.
The former Defence Minister, currently out on R50,000 bail, is facing 12 charges of corruption and one count of money laundering.
Prosecutor Bheki Manyathi informed the court that the state would provide the evidence against Mapisa-Nqakula to her defence team. He indicated that the former speaker’s attorneys were emailed the list of state witnesses in April, as directed by the court.
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“Part of the bail conditions was [for the accused] not to communicate [or] interfere with state witnesses.
“So it would make sense to provide the list to the accused, otherwise, if there is any eventuality and the list has not been provided, how do you then hold such person accountable in terms of the law,” Manyathi said.
Manyathi also revealed that the state decided not to add a second accused to the case. The unidentified suspect was going to be charged with one count of money laundering.
“We have since reconsidered and a decision has been taken not to add any accused,” Manyathi continued. The state is currently working on transferring the case to the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria.
“The next step is to obtain a High Court date [and] for that purpose, there are logistics so we need to liaise with the roll coordinator in the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions,” Manyathi added.
On the 9th of July, Mapisa-Nqakula will be served with an indictment and a summons to appear in the High Court. The High Court date for the first appearance will be included in the summons.
Magistrate VL Mahlangu granted the postponement and extended Mapisa-Nqakula’s bail until her next court appearance.
Mapisa-Nqakula resigned from parliament shortly after her home was raided by law enforcement. She stands accused of receiving more than R2 million in bribes from a South African National Defence Force (SANDF) contractor during her tenure as Defence Minister.
The former speaker allegedly received the bribes between December 2016 and July 2019. Mapisa-Nqakula unsuccessfully attempted to block her arrest, with the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria dismissing her interdict application on 2 April.
She then decided to hand herself over to the police. Her request for assistance with her legal bill for the corruption case was rejected by the Department of Defence.
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