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🇿🇦 South Africa /Crime & Justice

CORRUPTION TRIAL : Mapisa-Nqakula’s bid to walk free fails as ‘cash and coded messages’ survive court test

From Daily Maverick · () English

Summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources In the courts
  • The Gauteng High Court rejected former National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula’s request to have her corruption and money-laundering case dismissed.
  • Judge Mashudu Munzhelele ruled that prosecutors had presented a prima facie case, allowing the trial to move to the defence stage.
  • Mapisa-Nqakula faces 12 corruption charges and one money-laundering charge over alleged payments of about R4.55 million; she has pleaded not guilty.

Former National Assembly Speaker and defence minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula will have to answer corruption and money-laundering charges after the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria rejected her bid to end the case.

In my view, the evidence, considered cumulatively, constitutes a prima facie case. The requisite intention is properly inferred from the surrounding circumstances and the accused’s conduct.

· Judge Mashudu MunzheleleThe judge explained why the evidence was sufficient for the case to continue.

Judge Mashudu Munzhelele ruled that the State had presented enough evidence to establish a prima facie case. Considered together, the evidence supported an inference that Mapisa-Nqakula knew the alleged payments were gratification linked to her official position, influence and ability to act.

The ruling followed an application brought after prosecutors closed their case. Mapisa-Nqakula had argued that the evidence was insufficient for a reasonable court to convict her. The judge rejected that argument, finding that the absence of direct evidence of subjective intention did not justify discharging her under section 174.

The State has, therefore, established a prima facie case on the element of intention, sufficient to require the accused to answer.

· Judge Mashudu MunzheleleThe ruling addressed the prosecution’s evidence of intent.

Mapisa-Nqakula faces 12 counts of corruption and one count of money laundering. Prosecutors allege that she solicited and received about R4.55 million from defence contractor Nombasa Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu between 2016 and 2019. Mapisa-Nqakula has pleaded not guilty and denied the allegations.

It would, consequently, be inappropriate to discharge the applicant in terms of section 174 on the basis that the State did not produce direct evidence of subjective intention.

· Judge Mashudu MunzheleleThe judge rejected the defence argument that prosecutors needed direct evidence of intent.

Her defence focused on what it described as weaknesses and contradictions in the State’s case, particularly the evidence of Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu, the key witness. Lawyer Siyabulela Mapoma SC argued that other witnesses had learned about the alleged payments from Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu and that no independent evidence directly confirmed her account. The court’s decision sends the proceedings into the defence stage.

All the other witnesses who testified about the giving of the money heard that from Nombasa. The source of the hearsay evidence was Nombasa.

· Siyabulela Mapoma SCMapisa-Nqakula’s lawyer challenged the independence of evidence linking her to the alleged payments.
About this summary

Originally published by Daily Maverick. Summarized and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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