Defence Minister Mapisa-Nqakula challenges Holomisa in R5m corruption claim

Minister of Defence and Military Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has challenged UDM leader Bantu Holomisa to report her to law enforcement agencies over his R5 million corruption allegations.

Holomisa made the allegations in his letter to the chairperson of the parliamentary joint standing committee on defence last week.

Holomisa alleged Mapisa-Nqakula received money and gifts to the value of R5 million from an unnamed South African National Defence Force (SANDF) service provider from 2017 to 2019.

The minister is further accused of employing a relative of hers in the ministry’s finance office.

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“It is the minister’s view that such serious allegations should be reported to any law enforcement agencies including the National Prosecution Authority (NPA),” Mapisa-Nqakula said on Tuesday.

“Furthermore, the minister challenges the author of the letter in the name of Mr Holomisa which has been circulated to various media to open a case with the law enforcement agencies and bring evidence to allow the matter to be ventilated in a court of law.

“Therefore, Mr Holomisa must have the resolve to report the matter to the police or any other agency if he believes in what he has written in his letter and the information at his disposal.”

In the letter, Holomisa called on the committee to do a preliminary investigation in the form of writing a formal letter to the minister to ask if she knows about the allegations.

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“If not, the timelines outlined in the letter should be looked at and we may have to demand that her telephone number when forensic auditing is in full swing be surrendered to the investigation so that we check where she was on certain dates.

“After the investigation, the findings will be handed to law enforcement agencies such as the Hawks,” Holomisa told Radio 702 on Tuesday.

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