The National Assembly Speaker, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, will not face immediate arrest, as ruled by Pretoria High Court Judge Sulet Potterill. Picture: Supplied/Parliament
The National Assembly Speaker, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, will not face immediate arrest, as ruled by Pretoria High Court Judge Sulet Potterill.
Potterill said the decision to arrest will be withheld until her ruling on April 2.
Potterill heard Mapisa-Nqakula's urgent application on Monday to interdict the National Prosecuting Authority's (NPA) Investigating Directorate (ID) from arresting her.
Initially, Potterill postponed the court proceedings to 3pm so that she could review the court papers submitted by both parties.
During the proceedings, the speaker's legal counsel, Reg Willis, argued against her arrest, stating that she posed no risk of self-harm, harm to others, or interference with witnesses.
According to Willis, the NPA refused to provide her client with a formal pledge that they would not arrest her awaiting her April 9 application against the state.
Wills further accused the NPA of disclosing information to the media, saying the media has more details about the case than he does.
He added that the state cannot conceal "evidence" that it has against Mapisa-Nqakula.
Willis confidently said that the speaker has rights as a human being with a good reputation, but emphasised that hers was more than the most.
He stressed that the matter should be attended with urgency.
Mapisa-Nqakula is accused of taking bribes amounting to R2.3 million from a supplier in the Department of Defence.
At the time of the alleged corruption incidents, she was the Minister of Defence before she was deployed to Parliament in 2021.
The NPA's legal counsel, Advocate Makhosi Gwala, denied claims that they have leaked the information to the media.
He called for the speaker's lawyers to provide evidence that they indeed leaked the information. "We have a media liaison officer and we have no record of unknown sources," he said.
Responding to the issue of reputation, Gwala said the widespread reporting on the speaker's case has already damaged it.
However, Gwala argued that the matter could not be deemed urgent, noting that the NPA cannot be instructed on how to handle the status of an individual accused of corruption.
Last week, the NPA's ID raided Mapisa-Nqakula's Johannesburg home.
The speaker has since taken special leave and Parliament said this was provided for in the rules of the National Assembly.
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