Mapisa-Nqakula maintains there is no case against her
National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula insists the relief she seeks from the court – to interdict her arrest – will not prejudice the state’s investigation into graft allegations against her.
Her urgent application began briefly in the high court in Pretoria on Monday morning, but the matter was set down until 3 pm for the state to file its answering papers.
Mapisa-Nqakula is being probed for corruption after a well-known army contractor accused her of soliciting and receiving kickbacks to the tune of R2.3 million when she was Defence and Military Veterans Minister.
She questioned the validity of the warrant that was used to execute a search and seizure operation at her Johannesburg home last Tuesday.
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Mapisa -Nqakula says while she has no knowledge of a warrant issued for her arrest – she was forced to approach the court on an urgent basis last Friday, following threats of what she calls her unlawful arrest, and media reports suggesting that she was to hand herself over to police.
The speaker says she has every intention to prove her innocence and maintains there is no case against her.
Meanwhile, attorney and Legal commentator Nthabiseng Dubazana says corruption accused Mapisa-Nqakula is pre-empting criminal procedure by asking the courts to grant her access to the state's docket.
The High Court in Pretoria will on Monday afternoon hear the Speaker's urgent application - where she is seeking to interdict her arrest, and to be given access to all evidential material in her case.
Dubazana says the state will have to first conclude its investigation before disclosing contents of its docket to accused persons and their legal representatives.
She says what Mapisa-Nqakula wants has never been done in criminal law.
"In criminal proceedings you are only entitled to the contents of the docket once investigations have been completed, but moreso when you have been officially charged and the matter is on the court roll and the matter is trial ready. So, what she is tryng to do, she can't do. As it is she has not been officially charged, so she doesn't know what the charge she is going to face is going to be."
Dubazana's view is also that the speaker has no basis of urgency.
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