 (1).png){kind=spacer}
6 months ago
17
National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula will take "special leave" from her role. (Jaco Marais/Netwerk24/Gallo Images)
- National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula says she will take "special leave" from her role.
- This follows a raid at her Johannesburg home by the NPA's Investigative Directorate on Tuesday morning.
- Mapisa-Nqakula's lawyer said whether she would hand herself over to police was "under consideration".
National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula on Thursday night announced that she will take "special leave" from her role.
"Given the seriousness of the allegations and the attendant extensive media speculation, I have decided to take special leave from my position as Speaker of the National Assembly, effective immediately," Mapisa-Nqakula said.
"This decision has been communicated to the Secretary of Parliament and to the President of the Republic in his capacity as Head of State."
She said her decision is meant to protect the integrity of Parliament and ensure that its sacred duty and its name continue unblemished.
This move comes after heavy backlash following the National Prosecuting Authority's Investigating Directorate's raid at her Johannesburg home on Tuesday morning.
The operation by the Investigating Directorate was linked to a probe into alleged corruption during the Speaker's time as defence minister.
Mapisa-Nqakula said she held the "utmost respect" for the country’s legislative system and laws, some of which she had been "privileged to pass".
She said: "I assure the nation of my willingness to cooperate fully with law enforcement agencies on any matter that may arise."
Mapisa-Nqakula said there had been no formal notification of an arrest warrant or communication regarding an imminent arrest for her, nor to her legal team.
"My lawyers have, however, proactively informed the National Prosecution Authority of my readiness to comply and cooperate should the need arise," she said.
Mapisa-Nqakula's lawyer, Stephen May, said whether his client would hand herself over to police was "under consideration".
"But litigation is expected in the circumstances."
On Thursday, Parliament announced that Mapisa-Nqakula would lead a multi-party delegation to the 148th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly trip to Geneva, Switzerland.
But Mapisa-Nqakula said she would not be attending the "long-planned" trip.
May also confirmed this, saying that she would remain in the country, adding that "any media reports to the contrary that she is going are false".
The raid at Mapisa-Nqakula’s home this week comes after the DA laid a complaint against Mapisa-Nqakula with Parliament's Joint Committee on Ethics and Members' Interests earlier this month, after she was named in an affidavit submitted to the Investigative Directorate (ID) by the owner of Umkhombe Marine, a company responsible for transporting SA National Defence Force (SANDF) cargo for military missions.
News24 previously reported that businesswoman Nombasa Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu claimed that she paid up to R2.3 million in cash to Mapisa-Nqakula between November 2016 and July 2019 when Mapisa-Nqakula was defence minister.
