Mapisa-Nqakula has to hand herself in for arrest after interdict bid struck off court roll

PRETORIA - National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula will have to hand herself in for arrest after the Pretoria High Court found no urgency in her interdict application.

The Speaker brought an application to halt her arrest, pending the handing over of her docket by the State.

READ: Mapisa-Nqakula's bid to interdict her arrest struck off court roll

Mapisa-Nqakula faces corruption-linked charges of accepting millions of rands in alleged bribes during her tenure as defence minister.

Judge Sulet Potterill narrowed down Mapisa-Nqakula’s arguments on urgency to being about her standing in society, the potential of unlawful arrest and prosecution and the Speaker’s Constitutional right to dignity and freedom of movement being at risk.

"An arrest on its own cannot create urgency, especially when there is no apprehension of detention."

Judge Potterill also considered the Speaker’s argument that the State’s case against her was weak.

"Whether there is a weak case is speculative and the court shall not consider this as a ground for urgency."

The judge ruled that the court is not a means to declare an arrest that has not taken place unlawful or to express any view.

MAPISA-NQAKULA MUST RESIGN: DA

The Democratic Alliance’s chief whip Siviwe Gwarube says there is no reason the motion of no confidence brought against Mapisa-Nqakula cannot be heard this week.

Gwarube added that court judgment should not change the fact that Mapisa- Nqakula must resign or be removed through a motion of no confidence.

She said anything less would be a mockery of Parliament.

“It’s a great frustration of mine because really, the ANC’s internal processes should not determine how we do our jobs. We would like her to resign because this is bringing Parliament into disrepute.

“But should she fail to do so, she’ll face a motion of no confidence, and so a step aside motion is something that we don’t recognise… that’s the ANC’s own political process…”

Gwarube said it does not matter that the speaker’s term is coming to an end what matters is accountability.

“We have to get the culture in South Africa of accountability right. Just simply because there is an expiration of the term, it doesn’t mean that we should not do our job as Parliament.”