By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Former National Assembly (NA) Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has been granted bail of R50,000 in her corruption case at the Pretoria Magistrates Court.
Mapisa-Nqakula made her first appearance in the Pretoria Magistrate Court on Thursday after handing herself over to police at the Lyttelton Police Station in Tshwane.
Her husband, Charles Nqakula and Former National Assembly speaker Baleka Mbete sat in the first row of courtroom 8 in a show of support for Mapisa-Nqakula.
Mbete, who is no stranger to controversy herself, has previously spoken out in defence of Mapisa-Nqakula, saying the corruption allegations levelled against her were part of a vendetta to discredit Mapisa-Nqakula.
Her court appearance comes a few days after the Pretoria High Court dismissed her application to block her arrest for alleged corruption.
Magistrate Anna Oosthuizen handed down her ruling, saying she was satisfied that Mapisa-Nqakula had persuaded the court that, on the balance of probabilities, it was in the interests of justice for her to be released.
A condition of her release was that she should surrender her passport to the police and have no contact with witnesses.
The state claimed that it would not oppose bail, but since Nqakula is being charged with a schedule 5 offence, the onus is on her to prove why she should be granted bail.
Mapisa-Nqakula insisted that her imprisonment would negatively affect the well-being of her family and that her release on bail would pose no threat to justice, adding, “I do not pose a risk to the state should I be released”.
Mapisa-Nqakula said the search and seizure at her home yielded no evidence of the corruption allegation levelled against her. She also claimed that the prosecution had a weak case.
In addition to her case, Mapisa-Nqakula claimed South African prisons are riddled with gangs and claimed that the facilities do not have the capability to ensure her safety. The embattled former speaker pointed to inadequate ablution facilities and healthcare as further evidence as to why she should not be imprisoned.
State prosecutor Bheki Manyathi asked for bail to be set at R100 000, but her lawyer Graham Kerr-Phillips argued that this was unnecessarily high. Kerr-Phillips said Mapisa-Nqakula could only afford R50 000.
The state plans to add another accused in the matter, who will be asked to hand him or herself over.
Proceedings were postponed to 4 June.
The charges levelled against Mapisa-Nqakula include allegedly soliciting bribes from a contractor to the tune of R4.55-million between 2017 and 2019 while she was defence minister.