Former defence and military veterans minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nakula has denied sending WhatsApp messages that allegedly contained coded requests for money.
Mapisa-Nakula appeared before the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Wednesday, after her testimony was interrupted last week because of ill health.
She is facing 12 counts of corruption and one count of money laundering linked to her time as defence minister between 2016 and 2019.
The prosecution alleges that Mapisa-Nakula solicited R4.5 million in bribes from South African National Defence Force (SANDF) logistics contractor Nombasa Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu.
Of the alleged bribe, R2.1 million was reportedly paid in cash in exchange for securing and maintaining government tenders during the same period.
Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu, the state’s key witness, has previously testified about the alleged payments.
She told the court that she and Mapisa-Nakula used coded language in their WhatsApp conversations to conceal discussions about money.
According to Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu, some of the terms used included traditional healer-related language and references to items such as a “wig”.
The court examined the WhatsApp exchanges in detail on Wednesday.
In a September 2018 message, Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu told Mapisa-Nakula that she was in possession of “snuff” and asked how she should deliver it.
Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu testified that “snuff” was a code word for money.
Mapisa-Nakula rejected this interpretation.
“We didn’t speak about the snuff. There was no discussion about the snuff,” she told the court.
Mapisa-Nakula also denied ever asking Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu for money or requesting the wig.
“I’ve never requested money from Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu. I never even asked for the wig. She offered to get it for me. Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu didn’t give me money and a wig. She only gave me a wig,” she said.
In an October 2018 message, Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu told Mapisa-Nakula that her husband, former SANDF deputy surgeon-general Maj-Gen Noel Ndhlovu, was “losing his mind” over a document.
The document related to a two-year contract extension for former surgeon-general Lt-Gen Aubrey Sedibe.
Mapisa-Nakula told the court that she could not remember or had no knowledge of the message or the exchanges that followed.
“It was not me. These are not my messages,” she said.
The court also examined WhatsApp messages from November 2018 relating to a wig that Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu allegedly used as a reference to money.
Mapisa-Nakula acknowledged that the two women had discussed a wig but insisted that the reference was literal.
She explained that she had admired a wig Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu was wearing at a spousal forum event.
According to Mapisa-Nakula, Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu later offered to buy her a wig and arranged for it to be delivered to her at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg.
Mapisa-Nakula said she subsequently sent Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu a message thanking her for the wig.
However, Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu testified that the message was instead a thank-you for R300,000 in cash that had allegedly been handed to Mapisa-Nakula at the airport and concealed inside the wig bag.
Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu also told the court that Mapisa-Nakula repeatedly called her between November 7, 2018, and January 18, 2019, allegedly demanding money while referring to it as the wig.
Mapisa-Nakula denied these allegations.
“That is not true. I’ve never requested money from Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu. I never even asked for the wig. She offered to get it for me. Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu didn’t give me money and a wig. She only gave me a wig,” she said.
She described the wig she received as different from the one she had admired and compared it to wigs worn by older women who worked as nurses in the past.
Mapisa-Nakula estimated that the wig was worth less than R1,000.
In another WhatsApp message dated April 2, 2019, Mapisa-Nakula referred to a dream that she wanted interpreted.
Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu previously testified that traditional terms such as “impepho”, meaning sacred incense, and “indumba”, referring to a traditional healer’s hut, were allegedly used as codes for financial transactions.
Mapisa-Nakula dismissed this interpretation.
Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu told the court that she had given Mapisa-Nakula R100,000 as “impepho”.
Mapisa-Nakula questioned how Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu determined the amount of money supposedly represented by the term.
“How does she determine what amount of money is requested by impepho?” she asked.
Mapisa-Nakula acknowledged agreeing when asked whether she was at “indumba” in the WhatsApp exchanges.
However, she maintained that the term was used in its literal sense and denied that any money had been delivered to her.
“There’s nothing wrong with coming to indumba but there’s everything wrong with associating indumba with money. She is not truthful. She took advantage of my kindness,” she said.
The proceedings are continuing as the court examines further WhatsApp evidence.
