State hits back at Mapisa-Nqakula's attempts to block arrest
The state in its papers said Mapisa-Nqakula doesn’t have a right not to be arrested and that they can’t 'be seen to be dictated to by a suspect on how and when to enroll her matter' as this would 'create a dangerous precedent'.
Parliament Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula in Parliament on Thursday, 29 September 2022. Picture: GCIS
JOHANNESBURG - The State has hit back at National Assembly (NA) Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula’s attempts to block her looming arrest, saying she has no rights in this regard.
Mapisa-Nqakula’s been accused of accepting millions of rands in bribes during her tenure as Defence Minister.
Following a raid at her Johannebsurg home last week, it was expected that she would hand herself over to the police on Friday.
She has approached the courts to stop authorities from arresting her.
Mapisa-Nqakula last week launched an urgent application that she wanted to be heard in early April to have her arrest interdicted and the State ordered to allow her to appear in court on a summons instead.
While that application is pending, she’s now rushed to court with another application seeking to at least halt her arrest in the interim, which was set down for a hearing on Monday.
The State is opposing the move and, in its papers, lead prosecutor Advocate Bheki Manyathi said she doesn’t have a right to evade being arrested and that they can’t “be seen to be dictated to by a suspect on how and when to enroll her matter” as this would “create a dangerous precedent”.
He also slammed claims from her camp that she’s being targeted for political reasons ahead of the upcoming elections, asking what their end goal would be and insisting that her position as NA Speaker “does not grant her any preferences”.
Manyathi further denies her claims that the only evidence they have against her is that of a Section 204 witness, and that they’ve been leaking information about her case to the media.