South African court reserves ruling on Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula’s bid to end corruption case
South Africa’s Gauteng High Court in Pretoria has reserved judgment on former parliamentary Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula’s bid to have corruption and mone...
South Africa’s Gauteng High Court in Pretoria has reserved judgment on former parliamentary Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula’s bid to have corruption and money-laundering charges thrown out. The ruling will decide whether her trial continues after the defence argued the state has not made out a case.
The former defence minister and ex-Speaker faces 12 corruption counts and one count of money laundering. Prosecutors say she solicited R4.5 million from a defence logistics contractor while she served as defence and military veterans minister between 2016 and 2019. They also allege R2.1 million was paid in cash.
Defence says the case should fall away
Mapisa-Nqakula denies ever asking for or receiving the money. Her legal team told the court the prosecution had failed to produce enough evidence to justify the charges, after 15 state witnesses had already testified.
The application was brought under Section 174 of South Africa’s Criminal Procedure Act, a procedure that allows a court to discharge an accused person if the evidence at that stage is too weak to support a conviction. In Pretoria on Monday, both sides set out their arguments in detail before the judge postponed a decision.
The defence also argued there is no proof she physically accepted cash payments or arranged money exchanges. That claim goes to the heart of the case. Without it, the state’s version weakens sharply.
State points to tender handling and witness evidence
Prosecutors insist the file is strong enough to go to judgment. Senior state advocate Emile van der Merwe told the court there is prima facie evidence and “enough evidence for a conviction,” according to reports from the hearing.
The state says Mapisa-Nqakula’s influence was visible in the handling of a cancelled R104-million logistics tender linked to former contractor Nombasa Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu. That tender was later replaced by a R79-million contract awarded without a competitive bidding process, prosecutors said.
They also urged the court to draw an inference from Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu’s evidence that she gave the former minister $10,000, about R150,000. The prosecution says that testimony, together with the other evidence heard so far, is enough to defeat the discharge bid.
What happens next in Pretoria
The case now returns to court on September 7, 2026, when the judge is due to rule on whether the trial continues or falls away at this stage. For Mapisa-Nqakula, it is a pivotal moment. For the state, it is a test of whether the evidence gathered so far can carry the case through to the next phase.
She has denied the allegations throughout. The court will now decide whether those denials are enough to end the matter, or whether the corruption and money-laundering charges remain alive in the Gauteng High Court.
