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Former National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has been granted R50 000 bail as the State intends to add another accused in the corruption and money laundering case against the top ANC politician.
On Thursday, Nqakula appeared in the Pretoria Magistrates' Court, where she was officially charged with 12 counts of corruption and money laundering based on allegations that she allegedly solicited bribes from a service provider while she was the defence minister.
READ: Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula quits Parliament: 'I cannot continue in this role'
The former minister has been ordered to hand over her passport and not to contact the witnesses in the case directly or indirectly.
State prosecutor Bheki Manyathi told the magistrate that the State had a strong case against the accused and said the matter would be referred to the high court for trial.
Manyathi said:
Manyathi took offence to the comments by Mapisa-Nqakula's lawyer, Graham Kerr-Phillips, saying the state did not have a strong case against his client adding that “he is a lawyer and deals with facts”.
Kerr-Phillips read the affidavit by Mapisa-Nqakula, who said the police case against her client was based on media articles.
He read the former speaker's affidavit in which she said:
Manyathi said the State wanted to add another accused to the case on 4 June 2024 when it is expected to be back in court. The former Speaker also intends to apply to have access to the evidence contained in the police docket.
READ: Baleka Mbete and Lungisa back Mapisa-Nqakula, while Holomisa says she wasted everyone's time
The search warrant, which is attached to one of the letters from the National Prosecuting Authority, revealed that the officers who raided the Bruma home of Mapisa-Nqakula confiscated an expensive handbag and some documents relating to the renovations of the property, which the State alleged were paid for by a service provider who has now turned State witness.
The State key witness is a military supplier who allegedly showered the former Speaker with cash, bags and other gifts as gratification during her tenure as a minister of defence.
SACC ON THE RESIGNATION
Meanwhile, the SA Council of Churches (SACC), in a statement released on Thursday, said Mapisa-Nqakula's resignation was best for the country as it would allow "Parliament to focus on its primary mandate of legislating on behalf of the people of South Africa".
The SACC, however, warned that such allegations made against the former speaker undermined the integrity of Parliament.
“The SACC welcomes the former speaker’s resignation because our paramount concern is for the integrity of our public institutions,” said the council's acting general secretary Mzwandile Molo.
Molo was adamant that corruption must be "fought in our public institutions and society in general", further calling for law enforcement agencies to work diligently, transparently and without fear or favour to get to the root of these allegations.
“A lot of authority sits in public institutions because of the trust that we place in them; it is therefore well within the rights of every citizen to expect that this authority is respected in the execution of the duties of that office,” concluded Molo.
