South Africa's former parliament speaker was charged with corruption and money laundering on Thursday, April 4. According to media reports, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, 67, is accused of soliciting more than 2.3 million rand ($123,000) worth of bribes from a defense contractor in exchange for awarding contracts between 2016 and 2019. The police raided her home in March. Mapisa-Nqakula resigned from her speaker post earlier on Wednesday. She appeared before a court in Pretoria after she turned herself in to police and was formally arrested. She was later granted release on bail. Charges against Ms Mapisa-Nqakula are 12 counts of corruption... and one of money laundering, Bheki Manyathi of the National Prosecuting Authority told the court. I'm not at flight risk, she said in a statement read by her lawyer Graham Kerr-Phillips. I will receive a state pension which I cannot afford to lose, she added, while describing the case against her as weak. She denies the allegations. Mapisa-Nqakula is the latest in a string of senior ANC politicians, including President Cyril Ramaphosa and his vice president, to become embroiled in corruption scandals. The court is satisfied that the amount initially suggested (for bail) of 50,000 rand ($2,678) is adequate in this matter, Magistrate Anna Oosthuizen said in a ruling. As part of bail conditions, Mapisa-Nqakula must surrender her passport. According to reports, the case will be back in court on June 4. In an affidavit before the ruling, her lawyer argued that the former speaker was not a flight risk and that she voluntarily had come to court. As reported, Mapisa-Nqakula earlier lost a court bid to prevent authorities from arresting her. A veteran of the governing African National Congress who was defence minister from 2012 to 2021, Mapisa-Nqakula is accused of receiving millions of rand in cash as bribes from a former military contractor.
