Speaker of Parliament Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula. Photo: Gallo Images
National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula urgent court application to block her arrest for corruption allegations has been struck from the roll.
Gauteng High Court Judge Sulet Potterill handed down judgment in the urgent application on Tuesday.
Mapisa-Nqakula approached the court in Pretoria last week when she was expected to hand herself over.
ALSO READ: NPA to request ‘substantial’ bail for Mapisa-Nqakula so she won’t ‘abscond’
While Mapisa-Nqakula argued that her case is urgent because her dignity and liberty is at stake, Potterill said the state had made it clear that it will not oppose bail for her and arrest without detention is not a basis for an urgent application.
In her judgement, Potterill said the effect of the relief that Mapisa-Nqakula is seeking will be to “open the floodgates” for suspects to interdict their arrests on the basis that they were unlawful and the cases against them were weak.
“In the applicant’s affidavit, there are a variety of emotive garnishing on which the court unfortunately cannot take cognizance and make factual decisions on that. However, even the court finds that the matter is not urgent. The court must still make sure that there is substantial redress in a hearing in due course.
“Not in the founding affidavit of this application or the main application is any facts set out… Accordingly, the application is struck from the roll. The applicant is to pay the costs, including the costs of two counsel,” Potterill ruled.
United Democratic Movement (UDM) leader Bantu Holomisa has welcomed the judgement.
Holomisa first wrote to the Joint Standing Committee on Defence on 26 March 2021 about allegations that Mapisa-Nqakula received several payments totalling over R5 million between 2017 and 2019 from at least one company that had contracts with the South African National Defence Force (Sandf) when she served as Minister of Defence and Military Veterans.
“I was told to take my accusations to the police. I did and here we are waiting for Mapisa-Nqakula to do the right thing.” Holomisa told The Citizen.
“She must please spare us of this business of a motion of no confidence in the National Assembly Speaker. We are busy campaigning. Mapisa-Nqakula must present herself to SAPS finish and klaar!”
The speaker is set to face charges of 12 counts of corruption and one of money laundering involving R4.5 million dating back to when she was defence minister.
Mapisa-Nqakula based her second urgent application on the fact that her “unlawful arrest” by the state was “imminent”.
In her urgent application, she described herself as South Africa’s third most important functionary.
Last month, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) conducted a raid at her Johannesburg home in search of evidence related to the alleged corruption allegations.
ALSO READ: NPA slams Mapisa-Nqakula’s second bid to block her arrest as ‘abuse of process’
