Defence Dept confirms won’t pay legal costs of Mapisa-Nqakula’s graft trial
Mapisa-Nqakula was in April charged with twelve counts of corruption and money laundering following accusations she received kickbacks during her tenure as defence minister.
Picture: GCIS
JOHANNESBURG - The Department of Defence has confirmed that it will not pay the legal costs for former National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula’s upcoming corruption trial.
Mapisa-Nqakula was charged with 12 counts of corruption and money laundering in April.
She’s accused of receiving kickbacks related to tenders awarded by the department during her tenure as the Minister of Defence.
She later approached the department to provide her with legal representation for when the matter goes to trial.
Current Defence Minister Thandi Modise briefed the media on the outcome of Mapisa-Nqakula’s request on Sunday: “The matter has received attention from ourselves. We then looked at the provisions in the law, whether or not we can accede to such a request, and we found that in terms of Section 6.2 of the State legal representation policy, we cannot help the former minister and therefore, we will not be doing so.”