UPDATE: Mapisa-Nqakula lodges urgent court application against State to halt arrest
Mapisa-Nqakula is facing allegations of corruption that she received over R2 million in tender bribes from a contractor to the South African National Defence Force while she was the defence Minister.
Speaker of the South African National Assembly Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula. Picture: GIANLUIGI GUERCIA / AFP
PRETORIA/JOHANNESBURG - National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has on Friday lodged an urgent application against the State, in a bid to halt her looming arrest.
Her attorney, Stephen May, has now confirmed this, saying they’re waiting for the State's representatives to respond and inform them of their position.
“At this stage, what has happened is that we've served an urgent application on the NPA’s [National Prosecuting Authority] Investigating Directorate.
“Among the relief we’re asking for is an interim interdict on any arrests of my client, as well as disclosure of the State docket so we can analyse the case against her because every indication that we’ve had - and a large part of this, unfortunately, has come via the media - indicates that there simply is no case for my client to answer,” he said.
This comes amid reports that Mapisa-Nqakula handed herself over to police at the central police station in Pretoria.
It's also anticipated that she will appear before the Commercial Crimes Court in Pretoria.
Mapisa-Nqakula is facing allegations of corruption that she received over R2 million in tender bribes from a contractor to the South African National Defence Force while she was the minister of defence.
Earlier this week, the National Prosecuting Authority’s Investigating Directorate raided her Johannesburg home.
Meanwhile, the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution (CASAC) said the arrest of the country's National Assembly speaker is an embarrassment.
CASAC's Lawson Naidoo: "This is clearly one of the most high-profile positions in South Africa... it's the head of the legislative arm of government...of the state...and this is highly embarrassing for the institution of Parliament and I think the fact that we have an election in two months’ time, doesn't really have a bearing on this.
“This is about what is the right thing to do, the right thing for the speaker to do now is to resign and allow parliament to maintain its integrity."
Political parties are now calling for a thorough investigation, and for the speaker to step down.
Democratic Alliance (DA) Parliamentary chief whip Siviwe Gwarube: “It is clear that there’s no other way. The speaker has to step down in order to retain and sustain public trust in our Parliament.”
Earlier this week Freedom Front Plus leader Pieter Groenewald said the speaker has failed to be a symbol of integrity.
“She should step aside until this investigation is completed because her integrity is now under investigation and that reflects on Parliament.”