Speaker’s arrest looks imminent
● Speaker of parliament Nosiviwe MapisaNqakula was travelling the world this week as MPs sat to discuss a possible ethics committee investigation into allegations that she solicited and received more than R2.3m in cash bribes during her tenure as defence minister.
Last week the Sunday Times revealed that the Investigating Directorate (ID) was conducting a high-level probe into allegations that Mapisa-Nqakula solicited and received the cash in 10 separate transactions between November 2016 and July 2017. It was allegedly paid by department of defence contractor Nombasa Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu, who had secured more than R200m in contracts.
The Sunday Times also revealed that Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu has signed an agreement with the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to be a witness against the speaker, possibly in return for immunity from prosecution.
The ID is a specialised and multidisciplinary unit within the NPA established expressly to tackle corruption. It is understood that the six-month investigation into Mapisa-Nqakula is complete and all that remains is an arrest.
UDM leader Bantu Holomisa, who laid the complaint against the former minister, revealed that he had been informed by the investigating officer on the case that a planned arrest in early January was halted as politicians felt it would divert attention from the governing ANC’s January 8 statement.
The Sunday Times understands that there were plans for an arrest this week, but it is not clear if this was thwarted by MapisaNqakula’s attendance at the 2024 Women Speakers’ Summit in Paris from Tuesday to Thursday.
A source with direct knowledge of the investigation said the arrest was to be preceded by ID head Andrea Johnson and her team briefing national director of public prosecutions advocate Shamila Batohi.
Asked this week about the matter, Mthunzi Mhaga, a special adviser in Batohi’s office, said: “The NPA does not comment on investigations. The NPA only takes decisions based on the evidence and factors relevant thereto as prescribed by law and NPA policy.”
Late this week, DA chief whip Siviwe Gwarube laid a complaint with parliament’s joint committee on ethics and members’ interests, and called for an immediate investigation into Mapisa-Nqakula.
“Parliament is the cornerstone of South Africa’s democracy, tasked with representing the interests of its citizens and holding the executive accountable. As such, it cannot afford to be presided over by an individual embroiled in a corruption scandal,” she said.
It is highly unlikely that the ethics committee will mount a probe against the speaker before the term of this parliament expires on May 21.
MPs are also due to go on Easter recess on March 28 before embarking on a “constituency period” from April 2 until a date yet to be determined, according to the latest available National Assembly programme.
With the elections set for May 29, chances are that MPs and their parties will be using the “constituency period” to hit the campaign trail. During such a season, the business of parliament is usually put on the back burner.
Before the planned constituency period, the ethics committee is due to meet once, on March 28, but to only deal with matters it had been busy with before the complaint against the speaker.
The rules of the house allow a newly elected parliament to revive matters that had lapsed in the previous one. But this would not be applicable to Mapisa-Nqakula if she is not returned as an MP after the May elections. Her name did not feature on the ANC list of candidates for the next parliament that emerged this week.
In January, Mapisa-Nqakula told eNCA she had indicated her wish to retire as an MP after the poll. The issue became the subject of an intense and at times rowdy debate at a meeting of the National Assembly programme committee.
Opposition MPs from the DA and the EFF demanded that their complaints against Mapisa-Nqakula be dealt with urgently. They argued that “serious allegations” had to be probed before the parliamentary term lapsed.
Gwarube complained about “the frequency” of the ethics committee’s meetings and its undisclosed workload. “In 2023 the committee met six times; they are yet to meet in 2024. It’s now March and we’re nearing the term end.
“I think it’s important, chair of chairs, that this is dealt with, with the ethics committee. Not the merits of the case, but we need to understand what the workload of the ethics committee is ... the timelines.
“We can’t be seen to be sitting on this matter because it really does threaten to erode the trust that people have in us.”
The acting speaker and house chair responsible for the committee, Cedric Frolick, said no presiding officer was privy to cases before the ethics committee.
The EFF’s Hlengiwe Mkhaliphi said it was a concern that the ethics committee’s registrar had been acting in the position since 2018. The registrar is a powerful parliamentary official who determines the “authenticity and validity” of complaints and leads investigations into MPs, among other duties.
But ANC MPs, led by chief whip Pemmy Majodina, closed ranks around MapisaNqakula as they insisted that the ethics committee should be allowed to deal with the complaint against her in its own time.
Parliament is the cornerstone of South Africa’s democracy, tasked with representing the interests of its citizens and holding the executive accountable. As such, it cannot afford to be presided over by an individual embroiled in a corruption scandal
Siviwe Gwarube DA chief whip