New speaker Mapisa-Nqakula to preside over probes into her own conduct

New National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula will take over the incomplete investigation by the joint standing committee on defence hanging over her.

Mapisa-Nqakula was elected as the new speaker of the National Assembly (NA) following a plenary sitting in Parliament to replace Thandi Modise – who is the new minister of defence – on Thursday.

The proceedings saw MPs vote by a secret ballot following the nomination of two candidates.

As the new speaker, Mapisa-Nqakula will take over all activities left unfinished by Modise.

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This includes an investigation into allegations of her receiving a R5 million bribe from a defence contractor, and blowing R7 million on aircraft charters and living it up at luxury hotels during her time as defence minister.

Other ongoing investigations into her include:

• Alleged use of a South African Air Force jet to smuggle a woman who was romantically linked with her son from the Democratic Republic of Congo to South Africa.
• The abuse of state resources by using anther Air Force jet to taxi her ANC colleagues to a meeting with Zanu-PF in Zimbabwe, violating lockdown regulations.
• The support of a whitewashed report by the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) into the untimely death of Collins Khosa, which exonerated the alleged soldiers responsible. After an overwhelming furore, she later retracted this support and claimed she was misled.
• R215 million wasted by the Department of Defence on an unregistered Covid-19 treatment drug known as Interferon from Cuba, without consultation with the Department of Health and other government departments.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) said Mapisa-Nqakula’s election as speaker was a complete mockery of Parliament and the Constitution.

The party questioned how she could she oversee the very institution that is investigating her for misconduct.

“Her election is therefore not ‘democracy at work’ but rather another example of how the ANC’s policy of cadre deployment will ruin yet another democratic institution,” the DA said in a statement.