Mapisa-Nqakula suffering from a trial by media, say her lawyers

JOHANNESBURG - The legal representatives of Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula say their client is suffering from a trial by media. 

Mapisa-Nqakula made her first appearance at the Pretoria Magistrates Court on Thursday, where she faces 12 counts of corruption and one of money laundering. 

It's alleged that she received over R4.5 million in kickbacks from a defence contractor when she was a defence minister. 

Mapisa-Nqakula’s lawyer, Graham Kerr-Phillips, said that because the State had not disclosed evidence, he relied on media reports to determine the circumstances of his client's case. 

This has also been echoed by Mapisa-Nqakula’s advisor, Mike Ramagoma: "What we realised is that pressure has been brought to bear through very deliberate leaks through the media to try and build a momentum of a case that is not being shared with her, to force a situation that we have here, to force a situation where she feels 'I cannot continue to be seen as a person who is avoiding answering and accounting on allegations that are against me, even if I don’t know them.'"