Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula. File photo
The speaker of the National Assembly, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, allegedly lied about her whereabouts when Investigating Directorate officers wanted to arrest her on “multiple” corruption and money-laundering charges involving more than R4 million.
Mapisa-Nqakula’s lawyer, Stephen May, confirmed she was meant to fly out of the country for Geneva on Thursday night, but the flight had been cancelled.
“That is not occurring now because of the allegations and the contact we are having with the police.”
He said parliament’s statement that said that she would be part of a delegation to Switzerland had been incorrect.
“She is not planning on flying out of the country. She is remaining in the country.”
He said that he had had contact with the police, adding that the speaker would hand herself over in due course.
“We are certainly not running away from any of this. There is certainly no desire to avoid a truth-finding process. We do have grave concerns about the timing at which this comes and are very concerned about the nature and strength of the case of the state.
“It would certainly appear that it is flimsy at best and now what it seems or looks like might be an opportunistic time [ to charge her].”
In a statement on Thursday, parliament said Mapisa-Nqakula would lead a delegation to Switzerland for the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s 148th assembly from 23 to 27 March.
Two high-ranking sources said President Cyril Ramaphosa was briefed this month by the directorate’s officials regarding the speaker’s impending arrest, although his office denied this on Thursday.
According to an insider close to the case, law enforcement officers told Ramaphosa that the state had a strong case against Mapisa-Nqakula and an arrest would be made soon.
Another said Ramaphosa had indicated that he would not interfere in the investigation or the mooted prosecution. But presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya denied that Ramaphosa had been briefed, saying the speaker was the head of another independent arm of state.
“The speaker is not part of the executive, and neither is she employed by the executive arm of the state,” Magwenya said.
The presidential briefing is said to have come ahead of the expected arrest of the speaker for allegedly receiving more than R4 million in “gratification” — the legal term for cash bribes — from a business person during her nine-year tenure as the defence and military veterans minister. She held the position from 2012 to 2021.
Well-placed sources close to the inquiry said the speaker had known from the beginning of this month that the directorate, which is a division of the National Prosecuting Authority, was investigating her for alleged bribes she took from a former South African National Defence Force contractor.
However, Mapisa-Nqakula is said to have given Friday, 22 March, as the date of her return from an international trip, which included visits to the US and France.
But investigators received information that Mapisa-Nqakula got back to South Africa on either 15 or 16 March, without informing the directorate’s officials of her return.
“The directorate investigators had flown back to East London [where they are based] on Friday, 15 March, when they got information that the speaker returned earlier than she said she would,” said an insider who is aware of the matter and asked to remain anonymous.
“The following day, the investigators had to arrange to come back from East London [to Johannesburg] immediately to restart the raid on her house and arrest.
“Obviously, when you land [at the airport], there are immigration officials you need to pass. Investigators were alerted of her return after her passport was scanned,” the insider added.
On Tuesday, a search-and-seizure operation was conducted at Mapisa-Nqakula’s Johannesburg house as part of the investigation. She is expected to hand herself over to the police before being formally charged at the Pretoria magistrate’s court.
“She faces multiple counts of corruption and money laundering because she will be charged for each transfer she received.
She is facing at least 15 years’ imprisonment, should she be found guilty,” said another well-placed insider, who also requested anonymity.
The Criminal Law Amendment Act, better known as the minimum sentencing law, imposes a mandatory 15-year jail term for a first offender in a corruption case involving more than R500 000.
However, in a statement on Tuesday, parliament said Mapisa-Nqakula had co-operated “fully” during the raid on her home, asserting that the speaker had maintained “her strong conviction of innocence and [reaffirmed] that she has nothing to hide”.
“The speaker’s commitment to serving the public with honour and integrity remains unwavering,” reads the statement.
“Corruption poses a significant threat to the principles of democracy and good governance, and fundamentally contradicts everything the speaker represents. Therefore, she is profoundly disturbed by such allegations.”
The case against Mapisa-Nqakula is likely to put the spotlight on the ANC’s record when it comes to dealing with leaders accused of corruption, as the party fights to keep its majority rule in government.
ANC insiders told the M&G that the party’s top brass was unlikely to come to the defence of Mapisa-Nqakula should she face the full might of the law in the days to come.
They said the top leadership would have to keep the speaker at arm’s length to ensure that the party was not muddied by an alleged corruption case so close to the elections.
Members of the party’s national executive committee (NEC) insisted the speaker’s arrest, should it happen, would not make a significant dent in the ANC’s prospects in the elections.
But one senior ANC leader said her possible arrest would force the party to move faster in cleaning up its parliamentary list. They said the party would have to reclaim the narrative by ensuring that members likely to face prosecution after being implicated in state capture or other crimes were removed from the list.
“In any case, a delay is going to hurt us because people won’t take us seriously. This would just force us to expedite matters,” the senior leader said.
Mapisa-Nqakula has already indicated that she is on her way out of active politics, having failed to make it onto the party’s list of candidates submitted to the Electoral Commission of South Africa earlier this month.
According to three NEC members, Mapisa-Nqakula — a former ANC Women’s League president and a known ally of Ramaphosa — is likely to take leave of office as speaker of parliament soon after her arrest because the party’s step-aside rule — which stipulates that those criminally charged should relinquish their positions — would kick in.
One ANC member said that, since parliament is close to going into recess in preparation for a new administration, Mapisa-Nqakula’s arrest would not affect its proceedings.
“The speaker gets elected by parliament, so parliament will probably proceed with the deputy speaker. There is no need to appoint a new speaker at this time.”
The ANC leader said while Mapisa-Nqakula’s arrest could be seen as a carrot by the opposition, the ANC could also use her arrest to show its commitment to tackling corruption.
“You wouldn’t want this but it also shows that no one is untouchable. Really, it’s the right thing you need before the elections to show that institutions work,” they said.
Another NEC member said that there was an expectation that an arrest would be made but there was no panic at the ANC’s Johannesburg headquarters, Luthuli House.
“She is retiring; she has no major constituency on the ground, so I don’t see it as a major event that can turn the tide, should it happen,” they said.
Speaking about the raid at Mapisa-Nqakula’s house this week, ANC chief whip Pemmy Majodina said it would be premature for the party to comment on the process and called for the speaker to be given the benefit of the doubt.
“We will comment at the right time when there are proper findings,” Majodina said.