The police raided the palacios home of the Speaker of the National Assembly, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, in Bruma, east of Johannesburg.
The predawn raid on Tuesday came in response to claims that Mapisa-Nqakula accepted bribes totaling R2.3-million from a Defence Ministry service provider.
A spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), advocate Mthunzi Mhaga, confirmed that a raid took place at the home of Mapisa-Nqakula.
Bribes paid in hard cash and gifts
“The National Prosecuting Authority’s investigative directorate [ID] confirms that a search and seizure operation was carried out at the home of Speaker of Parliament, Ms Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, by members of the ID on March 19, relating to an investigation against her.
“The NPA’s ID will not be making any further comment on the matter.”
The raid comes after the NPA reportedly gave a business executive, Nombasa Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu, a Section 204 to be a key state witness in its case against Mapisa-Nqakula.
Ntsondwa-Ndlhovu deposed an affidavit in which she claims she paid bribes in the form of hard cash and gifts worth more than R5-million to Mapisa-Nqakula during her tenure as the minister of defence.
It is believed that law-enforcement agencies investigating the speaker were allegedly able to trace about R2.3-million of Ntsondwa-Ndlhovu’s alleged bribe to Mapisa-Nqakula on 10 occasions between November 2016 and July 2019.
The alleged bribes to the speaker were facilitated by the late secretary of defence, Sam Gulube, who summoned Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu to his home twice, according to her affidavit submitted to the law-enforcement agencies.
Raid was part of ongoing investigation
It was reported on Tuesday that the Hawks, acting on behalf of the ID, conducted the raid as part of an ongoing investigation against Mapisa-Nqakula.
Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu was a South African National Defence Force (SANDF) contractor when the bribes were allegedly paid to Mapisa-Nqakula.
Ntsondwa-Ndlhovu’s company, Umkhombe Marine, received contracts worth about R210-million from the SANDF.
Mapisa-Nqakula became the Speaker of the National Assembly in August 2021 after President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed the previous speaker, Thandi Modise, as the new minister of defence and military veterans following a cabinet reshuffle.
