Ex-Speaker released on R50 000 bail, insists State’s case is weak and political
EMBATTLED former Speaker of Parliament Nosiviwe Mapisa Nqkula has been released on R50 000 bail after she appeared before magistrate Anna Oosthuizen in a packed Pretoria Magistrate’s Court yesterday morning.
The State requested that bail be set at R100 000, but Mapisa-Nqakula pleaded with the court that she was now a pensioner and could only afford R50 000 as a maximum.
As part of her bail conditions, the court ordered that Mapisa-Nqakula surrender her passport by Monday, and that she must not apply for another passport pending the finalisation of the case.
She was also ordered not to contact the State’s witnesses – directly or indirectly. The matter was postponed to June 4.
The much-hyped court appearance came hours after Mapisa-Nqakula handed herself over to police at the Lyttelton police station in Tshwane.
The prosecution team stated that charges against Mapisa-Nqakula are 12 counts of corruption under Preca (Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act) and one of money laundering under Poca (Prevention of Organised Crime Act) for soliciting R4.5 million from a defence contractor.
The State’s case is that despite soliciting R4.5 million, Mapisa-Nqakula received R2.1 million and the prosecution told the court that it knows “what the money received was used for”.
The former minister of defence and military veterans was facing multiple charges of corruption, stemming from a high-profile investigation into her affairs when she presided over South Africa’s military.
“Charges against Ms Mapisa-Nqakula are 12 counts of corruption under Preca (Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act) and one of money laundering under Poca (Prevention of Organised Crime Act),” the lead prosecutor, advocate Bheki Manyathi, said in presenting the case before midday.
“It is common cause that the charges fall within Schedule 5 of the Criminal Procedure Act and the onus is on the applicant to satisfy this court by adducing evidence that the interest of justice permit her release on bail.”
The prosecution had however indicated that they would not be opposing bail.
“I am required by law to place on record why the prosecution would not be opposing bail but the onus is on the applicant (Mapisa-Nqakula) to satisfy this court. May I ask that I give my reasons after they have set out their case,” said Manyathi.
The prosecution indicated that before the next court date, it would be adding a second accused to the case.
However, Mapisa-Nqakula, through her legal representative advocate Graham Kerr-Phillips told the court that there is a political motive behind her prosecution and the timing.
“The evidence (of the State) comes from a single witness, and an informer who in all probability and likelihood gave evidence in return for fraud charges against her being allowed to be struck from the roll,” Kerr-Phillips submitted.
“The evidence is subject to several cautionary rules of evidence. A single witness and an informer, and an accomplice or co-perpetrator caution may rule.”
Mapisa-Nqakula said the evidence of the alleged whistle-blower was not corroborated by what law enforcement agents found during the recent raid at her Johannesburg home on March 19.