Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has yet to be arrested, charged in corruption case stemming from her tenure as defense minister
South African prosecutors said Monday they intend to charge the Parliament speaker with corruption, alleging she took $135,000 and a wig in bribes over a three-year period while she was defense minister.
Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has not been arrested or charged. The prosecutors spoke at a court hearing over her claims that authorities hadn't properly informed her of allegations or followed correct procedure.
The judge was expected to rule on a stay of arrest later Monday.
SOUTH AFRICAN PARLIAMENT SPEAKER'S HOME SEARCHED, EVIDENCE SEIZED IN BRIBERY PROBE
In court papers submitted for the hearing, prosecutors say Mapisa-Nqakula received 11 payments totaling $135,000 between December 2016 and July 2019. She sought another bribe of $105,000 but that wasn't paid, prosecutors said.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa (right) gestures while standing next to Speaker of the National Assembly of South Africa Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula ahead of his state of the nation address at the City Hall in Cape Town on Feb. 8, 2024. (Rodger Bosch/pool photo via AP)
On one occasion in February 2019, Mapisa-Nqakula received more than $15,000 and a wig at a meeting at the country's main international airport, the papers say.
The person who allegedly paid the bribes was not named.
Prosecutors gave her the opportunity to hand herself in at a police station and be taken to court to be formally charged. They said they would not oppose her bail.
Mapisa-Nqakula has denied wrongdoing and had said she would cooperate with authorities after they searched her home in Johannesburg and seized evidence last week.
She has taken a leave of absence from her role as Parliament speaker. She was previously accused of taking bribes, but a parliamentary investigation was dropped in 2021. The case re-emerged after a whistleblower came forward last year, prosecutors said.
Her case is the latest graft scandal to hit the ruling African National Congress party, which faces a pivotal national election on May 29.
