Mapisa-Nqakula to apply to have corruption charges against her dropped

August 13, 2026 40

Former Defence Minister and National Assembly Speaker, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, is seeking to have the corruption and money laundering charges against her dismissed.

The matter will return to the High Court in Pretoria on 20 August, when Mapisa-Nqakula is expected to bring an application in terms of Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Act.

Mapisa-Nqakula has been on trial since July over allegations that she solicited R4.5 million in kickbacks from a service provider contracted to the Defence Department during her tenure.

The State alleges she received R2.1 million of the money. She faces 12 counts of corruption and one count of money laundering.

The court has heard that the alleged requests ranged from R100,000 to R2 million, including one allegedly made in US dollars and another for “R300,000 and a wig”.

It was also heard that much of the cash allgedly went towards renovations at Mapisa-Nqakula’s Johannesburg home.

The State has called more than 10 witnesses since the trial began; however, Mapisa-Nqakula maintains that the prosecution has failed to present sufficient evidence to prove its case.

A key State witness, Nombasa Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu, testified that when Mapisa-Nqakula messaged her in September 2018 saying she needed to discuss a “dream”, she understood it to be a coded request for money.

She told the court that within the sangoma community, terms such as “mpepho”, snuff and “a dream” can be used as coded references for money. In this case, she says she understood the message to mean Mapisa-Nqakula was asking for about R150,000.

Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu said she withdrew the money from her savings and delivered it to Mapisa-Nqakula’s home, where she was allegedly instructed not to sign in at the security gate.

She also testified that the former minister’s first direct request for money was for R200,000.

Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu’s brother, Sabelo, corroborated parts of her testimony, including an incident in which they were robbed after withdrawing money from FNB at Fourways Mall.

He told the court that armed men forced them out of the vehicle and took R12 000 from his sister’s bag, as well as their cellphones and vehicle keys.

He said the suspects did not find an additional R200 000 that had allegedly been hidden under the seat of his sister’s car.

IDAC spokesperson, Henry Mamothame, says the State has closed its case and will now await the accused’s heads of argument before preparing its response.