The former speaker of the National Assembly, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, has been granted R50 000 bail by the high court in Pretoria.
Mapisa-Nqakula appeared before the court on Thursday on charges of corruption and money-laundering of over R4-million allegedly received in the form of bribes during her tenure as the minister of defence.
After having avoided arrest for almost two weeks, Mapisa-Nqakula handed herself over at the police station in Centurion on Thursday morning.
This came after the court rejected her “urgent” application that sought to interdict her arrest earlier in the week.
Variables like flight risk considered
Magistrate Anna Oosthuizen deemed the case against Mapisa-Ngakula a Schedule 5 case, meaning that she must convince the court that it is in the interest of justice for her to be released on bail.
The court took into account variables like flight risk as it balanced her right to freedom against the interests of justice.
While the state sought R100 000 bail, citing allegations of R2.5-million in bribes received by Mapisa-Ngakula, advocate Graham Kerr-Phillips argued that bail should be based on affordability, not corruption allegations.
Kerr-Phillips also emphasised the former speaker’s status as a pensioner and said that she was not a flight risk.
Bail conditions
On bail conditions, prosecutor Bheki Manyathi stated that the state is not aiming to restrict Mapisa-Nqakula’s movements within the country.
However, Manyathi pointed out that the state was concerned about her international travels.
As a result, the former speaker was ordered to surrender her passports, and the case was postponed to June 4 for the addition of another suspect.
Reacting to Mapisa-Nqakula’s arrest on Thursday morning, the DA called for the swift election of a new speaker of the National Assembly following Mapisa-Nqakula’s resignation on Wednesday.
DA MP Siviwe Gwarube stressed the constitutional mandate for prompt action in filling vacancies, pointing out that the party would write to the secretary of parliament to initiate the process.
Parliament remains competent
Despite the fast-approaching general elections on May 29, Gwarube stressed the importance of upholding constitutional provisions and rules.
“The sixth parliament remains competent to perform its important functions until May 21. There is still outstanding business in the house that must be completed,” Gwarube said.
“While there is a looming election, we cannot play fast and loose with the provisions of the constitution and the rules of the National Assembly.
“These decisions and our actions are precedent-setting, must be followed to the letter, and cannot be simply ignored for the sake of convenience.”
