Former defence minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has concluded her cross-examination and presentation of evidence at the High Court in Pretoria, with her legal team now expected to decide whether to call additional witnesses in her corruption trial.
Mapisa-Nqakula appeared in court on Wednesday, facing 12 counts of corruption and one count of money laundering. She has pleaded not guilty and maintains her innocence.
During her testimony, the former National Assembly speaker denied receiving a wig as part of the alleged bribes she is accused of soliciting from defence logistics contractor Nombasa Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu, the owner of Umkhombe Marine.
She also accused Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu of lying under oath during her testimony, suggesting that the contractor was seeking to secure immunity from the National Prosecuting Authority’s Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC).
Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu testified under an indemnity agreement with IDAC. She told the court that she had made several cash payments to Mapisa-Nqakula after her logistics company was awarded a R79-million contract.
Mapisa-Nqakula challenged aspects of the contractor’s evidence, including her account of meeting the former minister’s husband.
“I questioned her testimony to my defence because of the things she said, including saying she met my husband, claiming that he had an afro. And that is not true because I know she saw his pictures of him on Google from the early 90s,” Mapisa-Nqakula told the court.
The state alleges that, between 2016 and 2019, while serving as defence minister, Mapisa-Nqakula solicited R4.5-million in bribes and received approximately R2.1-million in cash from Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu.
Mapisa-Nqakula questioned over H-Bay income
Before the court turned to the corruption allegations, Mapisa-Nqakula was questioned about income she had allegedly failed to declare.
The court raised an additional income stream linked to a company called H-Bay, which had not been included in her declaration to the court.
Mapisa-Nqakula said the omission was a mistake, explaining that she had forgotten to include the income. She insisted that she had nothing to conceal.
“I am hiding nothing, H-Bay is there in my accounts, it is there in my parliament declaration. It was my mistake to not declare it to the court, but there is nothing I am hiding,” she said.
With her evidence concluded, attention now turns to whether the defence will call further witnesses before the trial proceeds.
