The former speaker of Parliament Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula made a brief appearance at the Pretoria Magistrates Court today on charges of corruption. She is charged with 12 counts of corruption and money laundering.

The state told the court that they will no longer charge a second suspect in the matter, which is different from the statement they previously made of "closing in on a second suspect". The NPA's Investigative Directorate (ID) said it couldn't reveal the name of the second suspect because they were never charged. Spokesperson Henry Mamothame said the unknown person was facing one charge of money laundering. "The evidence before us linked to this person will not stand the test of time in a trial court so we withdrew the charge against this person. In fact, this person was not officially charged."

This is Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula who resigned as National Assembly Speaker. She thought white people will reward her for destroying @AdvBMkhwebane and Judge John Hlophe pic.twitter.com/71ms0Af6gn

— Melissa Nelly (@MelissaNe10) June 4, 2024

State prosecutor Advocate Bheki Manyathi told the court that the state intends to indict the former Speaker in the high court. "We have now disclosed the docket, the next step is to obtain a high court date," Manyathi said. Mapisa-Nqakula is accused of receiving kickbacks related to tenders awarded by the department during her tenure as the Minister of Defence. She was released on R50 000 bail by the Pretoria Magistrates Court and is facing 12 counts of corruption and one of money laundering after she was accused of receiving more than R2 million in kickbacks for a defence contract when she was defence minister. The Defence Minister Thandi Modise's Department declined Mapisa-Nqakula's request to pay her legal fees. The matter returns to court on 9 July for the serving of an indictment and high court date.