Speaker of the National Assembly Nosiviwe Mapisa- Nqakula will know her fate next week Tuesday after the Pretoria High Court postponed her interdict saga for judgment on Monday afternoon.
Mapisa- Nqakula wants the court to stop the police from arresting her on a charge of corruption.
According to leaked media reports, the said corruption happened at the time Mapisa-Nqakula was serving as Minister of Defence before assuming her present position as Parliamentary speaker.
Her problems started when a whistle-blower/ accomplice revealed to the police that Mapisa Nqakula solicited bribes involving millions of rand from him as a contractor in the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) procurement projects.
The whistle-blower/ accomplice, who is the sole witness so far in the case against Mapisa-Nqakula, has been accorded the Section 204 status in terms of the Criminal Procedure Act.
This means that even though he is an accomplice in this matter as he has paid a bribe, the prosecution will drop all charges against him provided he gives honest evidence in court regarding Mapisa-Nqakula’s case.
Mapisa-Nqakula’s home in Bruma, on the East Rand was raided by the police in a search and seizure operation last week.
This sparked a confrontation between Mapisa-Nqakula’s husband Charles Nqakula and the police, according to media reports.
It is reported that Charles Nqakula, an ANC stalwart and former member of the cabinet in numerous ANC governments, tried to prevent the police from entering his wife’s Indumba as it is a sacred place, and no one may enter it without proper authorization.
At this stage it is not known whether the police eventually managed to enter the Indumba or not.
Mapisa-Nqakula is a traditional healer and her husband Charles felt that by entering the Indumba, the police would be desecrating the place in terms of African traditional healers’ norms and values.
Although Mapisa-Nqakula launched an urgent bid to stop the police from arresting her citing factors like humiliation, old age, sickness and violation of her rights, the NPA’s officials explained to the court on Monday that they had no intention to humiliate her at all.
The officials explained to the court that they had made arrangements with Mapisa Nqakula to hand herself to the police, where she would be charged with corruption and be taken to court immediately where she would apply for bail which the NPA would not oppose at all.
In her application for a court interdict on Monday, Mapisa-Nqakula demanded that the docket of her alleged crime, including identities and statements of witnesses, be handed over to her before any court case against her may commence.
Her lawyer, who accused the NPA of being delinquent, told the court that since contents of the said docket and related information had been leaked to the media by the NPA, his client
Mapisa- Nqakula also had the right to see such information as she is the accused in the corruption matter.
Meanwhile, Bongani Baloyi, leader of newly formed political party Xiluva, has called on Mapisa-Nqakula to resign from her position as speaker of Parliament and for Parliamentarians to remove her through a vote of no confidence is she fails to quit voluntarily.
“The allegations against the speaker regarding soliciting bribes are troubling, given her position as Minister of Defence during the said period,” said Baloyi.
“The former Defence Minister is an example of politicians who always say they are here to serve the people of South Africa when in fact they are serving themselves,” lamented Baloyi.
Presently Mapisa-Nqakula has announced that she would be on special leave and won’t be taking part in any Parliamentary affairs.
PAC Chairperson in Tshwane Sbusiso Xaba said: “We appreciate the whistle-blowing that has taken place in the case of the Speaker but whistleblowing must not be applied selectively as the President was caught with a matrass full of billions of rand and nothing happened to him.”
“Azapo calls on Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa- Nqakula to, like any other criminal suspect subject herself to arrest and be processed accordingly for possible bail if she qualifies,” said Azapo’s spokesperson Jabu Rakwena.