Former defence minister Mapisa-Nqakula enlists new legal team
Former National Assembly speaker and defence minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula was back in the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Friday.
Mapisa-Nqakula is accused of taking R2.3 million worth of bribes from businesswoman Nombasa Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu during her tenure as minister.
On Friday, her former counsel, advocate Reg Willis, said their mandate had been terminated.
Graft-accused former National Assembly speaker and defence minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has enlisted the services of a new legal team.
Mapisa-Nqakula made another appearance in the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Friday, where her previous counsel, advocate Reg Willis SC, instructed by attorney Stephen May, announced that their mandate had been terminated.
Going forward, Mapisa-Nqakula will be represented by advocate Cronje Kriel, instructed by Makhi Nogaga.
Mapisa-Nqakula was arrested last April and charged with 12 counts of corruption and one of money laundering.
She is accused of pocketing some R2.3 million worth of bribes from businesswoman Nombasa Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu between December 2016 and July 2019, during her tenure as minister.
Mapisa-Nqakula had launched an urgent application in the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria to try and halt her arrest in the run-up thereto, but it was dismissed.
She stepped down from her position as speaker against the backdrop of the case and was last in the dock a month ago, when an application she had brought to have access to the full docket against her – including the investigation record, instructions to the investigating officer and an index of all the evidence – was refused.
The court on Friday also heard that representations made by Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu in her own fraud case had still not been finalised.
The case was withdrawn against Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu in 2024 on the back of a successful unreasonable delay application, and she subsequently filed representations with the National Director of Public prosecutions (NDPP).
Mapisa-Nqakula has applied for access to the entire docket in that case as well, but that application is now effectively on ice pending the NDPP's decision.
The court heard on Friday that a decision was expected next week.
In the interim, the case has now been postponed until 20 June, with Mapisa-Nqakula out on bail of R50 000 in the meantime.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Bloomberg
an hour ago
- Bloomberg
Elon, Inc: Is Elon's Political Capital Spent?
Elon Musk's highly publicized and arguably brand destructive tenure as President Donald Trump's would-be hatchet man has supposedly drawn to a close. His foray into politics has resulted in tens of thousands of federal workers losing their jobs, the attempted shuttering or gutting of federal agencies (with grim consequences for the world's poorest) and a growing pile of lawsuits challenging as illegal much of what he did. Add to that his failed bankrolling of a Wisconsin judicial candidate and growing global disdain for him personally, and it's no wonder the South Africa-native would want to head back to the office. In this episode of Elon, Inc. David Papadopoulos is joined by Max Chafkin and Sarah Frier to analyze just how damaged Musk really is and what his future ambitions might be. After cavorting around Washington and Mar-a-Lago for months, he appears to be rechristening himself as a businessman (instead of Daddy Warbucks of the far-right). Recent interviews with Bloomberg, CBS and the Washington Post certainly make it seem like he wants us to believe that. But on the other hand, his latest X post on the massive Republican spending bill might mean he's not quite ready to leave the political spotlight. The crew also go through a number of Musk news items from last week, including successful fundraising, some confusing Grok deals that might not actually happen and an explosive report from The New York Times regarding his custody battles and alleged ketamine use. Finally, the trio tries to figure out the origin of that shiner Musk sported at Friday's press conference in the Oval Office. He blamed his five-year-old son. Although the parents on the panel find that believable, they also go through a list of other suspects.
The Drive
4 hours ago
- The Drive
Elon Musk Claims 'Corruption' Over New Jersey Decommissioning Superchargers
The latest car news, reviews, and features. Elon Musk, the CEO of multiple companies including Tesla, just supposedly exited his time attempting to gut the U.S. government. Days later the black-eyed (literally) executive is accusing a government-run agency of corruption. On Friday, the Tesla Charging (formerly known as Twitter) account posted that the New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA) will not allow the automaker to 'co-locate' its chargers with other types of charges. Further, according to the Tesla-owned account, the NJTA asked the automaker to decommission 64 existing Supercharger stalls. Musk responded to a post on the social media platform, which he owns, stating, 'sounds like corruption.' Elon Musk Claims Corruption by NJTA on The NJTA issued a statement on Friday stating the New Jersey Turnpike will transition to 'Universal Open Access EV chargers on June 6.' Those chargers will be provided solely by Applegreen Electric, and are said to be compatible with all makes and models of EVs. The NJTA did not mention whether the new chargers will use CCS or NACS ports, nor did it mention charging output or how many chargers are coming online. PlugShare reveals that the Vince Lombardi Service Station charger is operational already with seven CCS plugs and 1 NACS plug. Tesla's post said the automaker has been preparing for this for three years by building 116 charging stalls along the New Jersey Turnpike that would serve as replacements to the 64 being decommissioned. Tesla claimed in the post that it offered the NJTA 'above-market commercial terms,' which included offering to build Superchargers at the New Jersey service plaza with equipment upgrades. The claimed upgrades would have included Superchargers with screens and NACS cables equipped with CCS1 'magic docks' (Tesla's adapter for NACS to CCS1). The removal of Superchargers, which are known to be the most reliable of the charging networks in the U.S. market today, seems at odds with New Jersey's EV adoption goals. The state plans to have all new car sales be zero-emissions by 2035, which is a plan that was announced in 2023. Got a tip? Email us at tips@
New York Times
5 hours ago
- New York Times
Mexico's Supreme Court Looks Set to Be Dominated by One Party
Mexico's governing Morena party looked poised to dominate the Supreme Court on Tuesday, moving closer to controlling the third branch of government, according to early results in the country's divisive, first-ever election to overhaul the courts at every level. At a news conference, the leader of the country's electoral authority, Guadalupe Taddei, said that over 90 percent of votes for court justices had been counted, and named the nine likely winners. In a sign of Morena's apparent success, the five women and four men projected to sit on the new Supreme Court were all named on lists distributed by Morena operatives and supporters to indicate to voters which candidates to choose. The nationwide elections on Sunday transformed the judiciary from an appointment-based system to one in which voters choose judges and magistrates — a hugely ambitious, far-reaching experiment by a large democracy. Morena leaders who pushed the overhaul into effect argue it will help root out corrupt officials, democratize the judiciary and begin to repair a justice system that most Mexicans see as unresponsive and broken. But opposition figures and legal experts criticized the plan, saying it discarded the career requirements of the old system and kept the door open for criminal groups to influence judges. Critics also argued that the reform could give Morena control over the judiciary, undermining the system of checks and balances. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
