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Image courtesy: (Briefly News) Former speaker of the National Assembly Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula appeared in the Pretoria Magistrates Court.
(The Post News)- The former Speaker of the National Assembly, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, has appeared in court and has officially been charged with 12 counts of corruption and money laundering.
Mapisa-Nqakula took leave from her seat as parliament speaker last week after her home was raided by the National Prosecution Authority (NPA) as part of their investigation into the speaker. She failed to interject her imminent arrest, with the court rejecting her request not to be arrested. With the court also rejecting her claim that all this is a political conspiracy against her, a trial seems imminent.
On Thursday, April 04, Mapisa-Nqakula, to the delight of many, finally handed herself over to the police at Lyttelton in Centurion. That is after she resigned as both the National Assembly Speaker and a member of parliament. She appeared in the Pretoria Magistrates Court with the support of her husband, Charles Nqakula, who was also the Speaker of the National Assembly, and former National Assembly Speaker, Baleka Mbethe.
The NPA is yet to reveal any concrete evidence against the former speaker, apart from the affidavit from Nombasa Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu, the owner of a logistic company, Umkhombe Marine, that received tenders worth millions from the SANDF, who threw Nqakula under the bus when she became a Section 204 witness after the NPA nabbed her over a R100 million corruption charge. Essentially, she turned state witness for the NPA in exchange for immunity from prosecution on the charges she was facing.
In her plea for approval of her bail application, her lawyer mentioned her age, health complications, and that she is not a flight risk. It is alleged that the correctional services facilities would not be an ideal place for her, a notion that riled up South Africans. She was once the Minister of Correctional Services from 2009 to 2012. The NPA has no intention of opposing her bail application.
The arrest of such a high profile has so many political implications, especially for her party, the African National Congress (ANC), especially with the national elections around the corner. Dr. Sizwe Mpofu Walsh, an International Relations lecturer at Wits, recalls the “fall out” between President Ramaphosa and the speaker during the KwaZulu Natal unrest but does not rule out the possibility of Nqakula being defended, especially with how she defended Ramaphosa during the Phalaphala allegations.
A case that has been developing rigorously over the past few weeks, catching even the international eye with such a high-profile person standing accused, promises to deliver more jaw-dropping developments. If the NPA explicitly says they are aiming for a prosecution lasting no less than 15 years.
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