Former National Assembly (NA) Speaker and one-time minister of defence and military veterans, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, heard she will face charges of corruption by herself during a Pretoria Magistrate’s Court appearance this week.
Twelve charges of corruption and one of money laundering were brought against her in connection with tenders awarded to return military equipment to South Africa from SA National Defence Force (SANDF) peacekeeping deployments in Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
She allegedly received more than R2 million from Umkhombe Marine Director and Chief Executive, Nombasa Ndhlovu, also the immediate past chair of the SA Aerospace, Maritime and Defence Industries Association (AMD). The money was apparently given to her between December 2016 and July 2019.
Mapisa-Nqakula was granted R50 000 bail and had to surrender her passport, done at Centurion’s Lyttelton Police Station.
During her Tuesday appearance, prosecutor Bheki Manyathi put it to the court the State decided against a second unidentified suspect being charged along with Mapisa-Nqakula. He or she, according to Johannesburg daily The Citizen, was apparently going to be charged with a single count of money laundering.
“We have since reconsidered and a decision has been taken not to add any accused,” Manyathi continued.
The prosecutor further said the state was working on transferring the case to the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria.
“The next step is to obtain a high court date [and] for that purpose, there are logistics so we need to liaise with the roll co-ordinator in the office of the director of public prosecutions.”
A postponement to 9 July was requested and granted when Mapisa-Nqakula will be indicted and served with a summons to appear at the High Court.
