Former National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has failed in her bid to have the corruption case against her dismissed by the Pretoria High Court.
The court on Monday rejected her application for a discharge.
Mapisa-Nqakula faces 12 charges of corruption as well as a single count of money laundering.
She is alleged to have solicited corrupt payments from South African National Defence Force (SANDF) contractor Nombasa Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu between 2016 and 2019, during her tenure as Defence Minister.
Delivering a judgment that lasted nearly two hours, Judge Mashudu Munzhelele considered each of the 13 charges brought against Mapisa-Nqakula.
Munzhelele dismissed the former speaker’s application for a discharge on all the charges, finding that the State had presented a prima facie case against her.
“The evidence is therefore sufficient to require the accused to answer count 13. The following is the order in the result. The application for discharge in terms of Section 174 in respect of all counts is denied.”
Mapisa-Nqakula quietly nodded as the judge delivered the judgment while she sat in the dock.
With her discharge application unsuccessful, she will now have to prepare her defence and respond to the evidence presented by the State.
