Arrest warrant stayed for Mapisa-Nqakula after no-show in court - IOL

Ex-defence minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula is one missed court date away from being arrested after she was a no-show at her corruption trial on Friday, for the second time in just over three weeks.

The Pretoria High Court issued a warrant for her arrest but stayed it, which means it will only be carried out if she fails to appear when the trial resumes on November 11.

Mapisa-Nqakula, who is also a former National Assembly speaker, was due back in the witness box under cross-examination.

Her lawyer, Siyabulela Mapoma, handed in a medical certificate and asked for a postponement.

The state did not oppose the postponement but asked the court to authorise the warrant.

Her evidence was cut short on Tuesday when she told the court she was unwell and could not go on.

She first missed court on September 10, a day after she fell ill on the stand, and a warrant was stayed until September 16 then too.

The trial will now run from November 11 to 20 and again from November 30 to December 4.

Mapisa-Nqakula faces 12 counts of corruption and one count of money laundering.

The state said she solicited R4.5m in bribes from defence contractor Nombasa Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu while she was defence minister between 2016 and 2019, and received R2.1m of it in cash.

The state alleged the money paid for renovations to her home in Bruma, Johannesburg.

She has pleaded not guilty and denies receiving any money from Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu.

Mapisa-Nqakula resigned as speaker after her arrest in April 2024.

Judge Mashudu Munzhelele dismissed her application to be acquitted on September 7, ruling that the state had made out a case she must answer.

She then took the stand in her own defence.

The acting head of the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption, advocate Ntuthuzelo Vanara, welcomed that ruling.

"The judgment is demonstrative of the rule of law being in motion," Vanara said in a statement after the ruling.

"Our team of prosecutors and investigators presented a solid case in their endeavour to prove the validity of the charges levelled against the accused."