CORRUPTION TRIAL : Mapisa-Nqakula’s bid to walk free fails as ‘cash and coded messages’ survive court test
An early victory for the National Prosecuting Authority and Investigating Directorate Against Corruption as the State’s corruption case against Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula survives her bid for a discharge, sending the former minister into the next stage of the trial.
Former National Assembly speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula's bid to have her corruption trial thrown out failed after a Gauteng High Court judge in Pretoria found the State had enough evidence to proceed. The judge rejected Mapisa-Nqakula's discharge application, stating the evidence supported an inference she knew the payments constituted gratification and were linked to her official position.
The court heard allegations that Mapisa-Nqakula accepted about R4.55 million from defence contractor Nombasa Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu between 2016 and 2019. Mapisa-Nqakula denies the charges. Her defence focused on weaknesses in the State's case, particularly the evidence from Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu, the prosecution's key witness. The defence argued there was insufficient independent evidence directly confirming Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu's allegations.
Judge Mashudu Munzhelele noted the State had presented enough evidence to establish a prima facie case against Mapisa-Nqakula, stating the evidence considered as a whole supported the inference she knew the alleged payments were gratification. The court rejected the argument that the defence did not need to prove there was "no evidence at all" to succeed in its application for discharge.
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