09-05-2025
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The case was withdrawn against Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu in 2024 on the back of a successful unreasonable delay application, and she subsequently filed representations with the National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.
