Former Speaker on corruption charges
A high-ranking figure in South Africa’s governing party has appeared in court on charges of corruption and money laundering linked to her time as defence minister.
Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, 67, is accused of soliciting hefty amounts in bribes and a wig from a former military contractor between 2016 and 2019, when she was in the cabinet of the former president Jacob Zuma.
She resigned from her post as Speaker on Thursday and presented herself to police yesterday after losing a legal bid to block her arrest. She has denied wrongdoing and claims that the case is politically motivated.
Bheki Manyathi, of the National Prosecuting Authority, told the court in Pretoria: “Charges against Ms Mapisa-Nqakula are 12 counts of corruption ... and one of money laundering.”
The African National Congress (ANC) veteran remained silent as her lawyer requested that she be let out on bail, which was granted at R50,000
(NZ$4300). She said she posed no flight risk because she could not afford to lose her state pension. She also highlighted the terrible state of South Africa’s overcrowded prisons where staff were overwhelmed “trying to stop inmates from killing each other”.
Mapisa-Nqakula served as defence minister between 2014 and 2021 before being appointed Speaker in a move that drew criticism from the opposition. At the time, she had come under fire for perceived incompetence in responding to a spate of deadly unrest in which more than 300 people died.
Prosecutors allege that Mapisa-Nqakula received 11 payments totalling US$135,000 (NZ$225,000) between December 2016 and July 2019. She sought another bribe of US$105,000 but that was not paid, prosecutors said. On one occasion, in February 2019, Mapisa-Nqakula received more than US$15,000 and a wig at a meeting at the country’s main international airport, court papers said.
Mapisa-Nqakula’s home was raided last month by investigators as part of the corruption inquiry.
Her resignation as Speaker and as an MP for the ANC is unusual for a senior member of the party, which has been dogged by corruption cases.
ANC colleagues will be spared the embarrassment of defending Mapisa-Nqakula in a vote of confidence brought by the main opposition, the Democratic Alliance. Rising public anger over corruption, high unemployment and power failures risk the ANC losing its overall national majority at a general election next month.
The party welcomed her resignation as a commitment to “maintaining the image of our organisation”.
Accusations of corruption were first made against Mapisa-Nqakula in 2019 when she was still defence minister serving in the cabinet of Cyril Ramaphosa, 71, who had taken over from Jacob Zuma, 81, the year before. In 2021, Ramaphosa, who had pledged to root out corruption in his government, promoted Mapisa-Nqakula to Speaker of the national assembly.
During apartheid, she was a fighter with the armed wing of the then-banned ANC. – The Times