The corruption case against former National Assembly speaker, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has been postponed to December 5th.
(The Post News)- The North Gauteng High Court has postponed the fraud and corruption case against Nosiviwe Maphisa-Nqakula, a former National Assembly speaker, to December 5. She appeared in court on Thursday morning after the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court referred her case to the High Court or a pre-trial conference in July, following her previous court appearance.
It is alleged that Maphisa-Nqakula’s charges stem from her time as the defense minister, when she purportedly solicited and received over R4 million in bribery from a defense contractor. She is faced with 12 counts of corruption and one count of money laundering.
Nombasa Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu, the director of a logistics company, Umkhombe Marine, initiated the allegations against Maphisa-Nqakula. Umkhombe Marine did business with the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), and Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu alleged that she paid Maphisa-Nqakula kickbacks amounting to R2 million.
During today’s court proceedings, Judge Aubrey Ledwaba rescheduled the case because the defense was not aware of all that was on the court docket. Judge Ledwaba told the court that he was informed by the accused’s council and the state council that there were some sections of the docket that were not disclosed to the defence council.
The judge further expressed his disappointment regarding the shortcomings presented to him. He emphasized that everything in the case should have been completed in lower court and that a matter should be taken to the High Court when it is ready for trial.
Additionally, Judge Ledwaba stated that for the sake of justice, he agrees to grant the defence council’s request to make an application for the missing sections of the docket to be disclosed. According to Judge Ledwaba, the defence council shall submit its request on October 28, and the state council should respond on November 15.
Furthermore, if there are any points raised in the answering affidavit that the defence council must address, Judge Ledwaba stated that a response to the state council must be submitted by November 25. The defence council and state councilors agreed to exchange arguments by December 2, and the matter is expected to return to court on December 5.
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