Former Speaker of Parliament Nosiviwe Mapisa Nqakula appears at the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court.Picture: Oupa Mokoena / Independent Newspapers
Embattled former Speaker of Parliament, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, complied with the stringent bail conditions set by the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria last week by handing over her passport to investigators on Monday.
The former Minister of Defence was last Thursday released on R50 000 bail after she appeared before Magistrate Anna Oosthuizen in a packed Pretoria Magistrate’s Court.
The State had requested that bail be set at R100 000. However, Mapisa-Nqakula pleaded with the court, stating that she was now a pensioner and could only afford a maximum of R50 000.
Oosthuizen ordered that Mapisa-Nqakula hand over her passport to the investigators, with a deadline set for on Monday.
The Investigating Directorate (ID) of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said Mapisa-Nqakula had handed over her passport to authorities.
Additionally, the ID said that Mapisa-Nqakula had been provided with the list of witnesses whom the State planned to call in an effort to substantiate the multimillion-rand corruption charge against her.
“Passport handed in, and list of witnesses provided to her (Mapisa-Nqakula),” said spokesperson for the ID, Henry Mamothame.
As part of the bail conditions, the court last week ordered that Mapisa-Nqakula surrender her passport by yesterday, and that she must not apply for another passport pending the finalisation of the case.
She was also ordered not to contact the State’s witnesses – directly or indirectly. The matter was postponed to June 4.
The much-anticipated court appearance came hours after Mapisa-Nqakula handed herself over to police at the Lyttelton police station in Tshwane on Thursday morning.
The prosecution team stated that charges against Mapisa-Nqakula are 12 counts of corruption under Preca (Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act) and one of money laundering under Poca (Prevention of Organised Crime Act) for soliciting R4.5 million from a defence contractor.
The State’s case is that despite soliciting R4.5 million, Mapisa-Nqakula received R2.5 million and the prosecution told the court that it knows “what the money received was used for”.
The former Minister of Defence and Military veterans was facing multiple charges of corruption, stemming from a high-profile investigation into her affairs when she presided over South Africa’s military.
The Mercury
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