By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has hired a new legal team to defend against corruption charges levelled against her during her tenure as defence minister.
Mapisa-Nqakula made a brief appearance in court on Friday, taking a seat right at the centre and keeping her head down until her matter was called.
She is charged with 12 counts of corruption and one count of money laundering.
The charges relate to her tenure between 2016 and 2019 when she was minister of defence, during which she allegedly solicited and received about R4.5-million from Nombasa Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu, whose company was a service provider to the department – R2.1-million of which was in cash.
The case comes after a raid by the Investigating Directorate on her Johannesburg home on 19 March 2024 triggered speculation about her possible arrest in connection with alleged bribes of millions of rand solicited while she was defence minister.
During the proceedings her lawyer, Advocate Graham Kerr-Philips, told the court that they would no longer be on the case.
“We appear to inform your lordship that our attorney’s mandate has been withdrawn, so we are here to withdraw with your lordship’s consent and to hand over to those who will take over from us.”
After Mapisa-Nqakula confirmed the changes, her new lawyer, Advocate Cronje Kriel, came on record.
“We have been briefed, we have been in contact with our learned colleagues.”
At the same time, the court is yet to receive the outcome of representations made by Mapisa-Nqakula’s lawyers to National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) head Shamila Batohi.
The matter has been postponed to June.
Internal SANDF documents, legal files and court records provide damning evidence against Mapisa-Nqakula and secretary for defence Sam Gulube, but also implicate Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu, her ex-lawyer and at least two generals.