Mapisa-Nqakula ‘not informed of any corruption investigations against her’

The DA said in Parliament it was waiting for National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula to return from Paris to provide answers to a number of allegations levelled against her.

Bribery allegations against Mapisa-Nqakula

This comes after UDM leader Bantu Holomisa alleged that he was informed that she would be arrested for bribery involving at least R2m while she was the minister of defence.

The DA said it was also waiting for an explanation from Mapisa-Nqakula regarding her reasons for hiking the salary of the Secretary to Parliament Xolile George from R2.6 million a year to R4.4 million per annum. The speaker was expected to give the DA a written explanation on the salary increase on Monday but the party said it had not yet received it.

ALSO READ: ‘What bribes? Not me,’ Mapisa-Nqakula rebuffs allegations

Mapisa-Nqakula has been in Paris this week for a women speaker’s conference which was expected to take place over two days.

Speaker maintains innocence

In a response to questions from The Citizen on Thursday, Mapisa-Nqakula’s spokesperson Mike Ramagoma said she is not aware of any investigation against her.

“The speaker has not been informed of any corruption investigations against her. She has neither been asked to respond to any allegation or charged with any wrongdoing,” Ramagoma said.

He said Mapisa-Nqakula has maintained a clean record in her political career.

“The speaker maintains her innocence and emphasises that any form of corruption is fundamentally opposed to everything she stands for. Throughout her political career, both in word and in deed, she has consistently stood against corruption and demonstrated ethical conduct and clean governance,” he said.

ALSO READ: EFF submits no-confidence motion in National Assembly Speaker Mapisa-Nqakula

Meanwhile, DA Chief Whip in Parliament Siviwe Gwarube said the party was waiting for Mapisa-Nqakula to return to the country and account to the allegations.

“We are less concerned about the parliamentary trip the speaker has undertaken and more invested in ensuring that she is held to account by both the ethics committee and powers and privilege’s committee on the myriad of allegations of bribery and misleading parliament that she faces,” Gwarube said.

Gwarube also demanded that the speaker adjust George’s salary back to its original amount after it was hiked by up to 70%.

“By misleading Parliament about the secretary’s salary package, they betrayed the principles of transparency and accountability and considering that, the DA would demand that salary package be readjusted to the original advertisement package,” she said.

The Citizen understands that Holomisa first brought bribery allegations against Mapisa-Nqakula in 2021 when she was still defence minister.

This is not the first time the speaker has been in trouble for abusing her role as an MP. In 2020 she was asked to explain why she had made an army jet available for ANC members to travel to Zimbabwe. She was docked three months’ salary for that incident.