Mapisa-Nqakula, former Minister of Defence, faces accusations of accepting bribes totalling R2.3 million from a Department of Defence supplier. The alleged incidents occurred during her tenure as minister of defence before she was redeployed to Parliament in 2021. She denies the corruption allegations.

The operation by the National Prosecution Authority (NPA) Investigating raided the home of National Assembly speaker on Tuesday, 19th March 2024, as part of a corruption inquiry against her. The Speaker steadfastly upholds her strong conviction of innocence, and reaffirms that she has nothing to hide," adding that the search at her residence lasted over five hours. The DA has tabled a formal motion of no confidence against embattled National Assembly speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula who announced on Thursday that she had taken special leave from her position as speaker and from the ANC. So far, the DA’s motion of no confidence against Mapisa-Nqakula has not been scheduled in the updated parliamentary calendar, nor is there any indication of whether the ethics committee has finalised its deliberation on the ethics complaint against her in relation to the defence-related corruption claims. 

Without an ethics report adopted in the House, all outstanding matters lapse by the end of the parliamentary term. Put simply, if the no confidence motion and ethics complaint are not finalised by  this Thursday, they simply fall away. It is unlikely that a new post-29 May Parliament will revive these since Mapisa-Nqakula is not on the governing ANC’s election candidates lists and will not return to domestic public life. Karam Singh, Executive Director at Corruption Watch joins us for this discussion.

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