South Africa’s ex-Speaker of Parliament Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has been charged with 12 counts of corruption and one depend of cash laundering.
She made her first courtroom look after handing herself over to a police station on Thursday morning.
The politician is accused of soliciting bribes in return for awarding contracts throughout her time as defence minister.
She denied any wrongdoing in courtroom and stated: “I do not need a propensity to commit crime.”
However prosecutor Bheki Manyathi advised Pretoria Magistrates’ Court docket there was “ample proof” towards Ms Mapisa-Nqakula.
She has been launched on bail.
After weeks of investigations, Ms Mapisa-Nqakula resigned on Wednesday, however stated this wasn’t an “indication or act of contrition”.
She stated given the “seriousness” of the probe she couldn’t proceed her function.
Final month a particular police unit raided her Johannesburg residence in reference to the corruption investigation.
The 67-year-old veteran of the African Nationwide Congress (ANC) social gathering grew to become speaker in 2021. Earlier than that, she served as defence minister for seven years.
Final week, Ms Mapisa-Nqakula’s legal professionals filed a request for a courtroom order to forestall her arrest, saying it might infringe on her dignity.
On Tuesday, judges rejected her bid on the premise that the matter was not pressing they usually couldn’t speculate on an arrest that was but to occur.
Ms Mapisa-Nqakula is accused of creating a number of calls for for cash, amounting to $120,000 (£96,000), from the proprietor of an organization to safe a young to move military gear again to South Africa from elsewhere on the continent, the Enterprise Day newspaper stories.
That is the newest in an extended line of corruption scandals to engulf the ANC.
What’s uncommon concerning the case is the relative pace with which Ms Mapisa-Nqakula resigned.
Her resolution to face down is prone to have triggered reduction in some ANC circles as she has relieved the social gathering of getting to publicly defend her.
The ANC has formally counseled her resolution, saying the social gathering valued her dedication to sustaining the picture of the organisation.
The case towards the previous speaker is at finest embarrassing, at worst deeply damaging for the ANC.
Polls predict the social gathering faces a bruising election on the finish of Might with some projections suggesting it might lose its majority for the primary time.
The ANC, which has been in energy since 1994, has confronted repeated allegations of corruption and mismanagement of public funds, which have turn out to be a key election situation.
