By Johnathan Paoli
Former National Assembly Speaker and Defence Minister Mapisa-Nqakula’s travel allowances, cash withdrawals, and the construction and renovation of her Bruma home in Johannesburg have come under scrutiny in the North Gauteng High Court.
She has sought to account for financial records the State says point to millions of rand in illicit payments.
Testifying in her own defence, via a court translator on Wednesday, Mapisa-Nqakula was questioned about discrepancies between dates on financial transactions and the official records of her overseas trips during her tenure as minister.
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She explained to the high court in Pretoria that ministers received foreign currency travel allowances in cash, including an advance intended to cover unexpected expenses.
“My staff has been given money, then my allowance will be taken off, be placed in an envelope, as we know they would be receiving it from Bidvest or wherever. The money that gets to be refunded back or taken back to the department,” she testified.
“It is an advance allowance that one is given in case of any unexpected expenditure that had to take place.”
Mapisa-Nqakula said a departmental document setting out her foreign travel between 2016 and 2020 showed the allowances she received, including R13,934 for a 2018 trip to the US.
She said much of the trip had already been paid for, including accommodation and meals, leaving her with little need to spend the allowance.
But the State questioned financial records showing transactions whose references did not correspond neatly with the dates of her travel.
Mapisa-Nqakula said the department’s standard reference system was supposed to record the date of departure, return date, month and year. However, discrepancies occurred because documentation was sometimes submitted late by her assistants or processed later by the finance department.
The issue is central to the State’s allegation that Mapisa-Nqakula received about R4.5 million from defence contractor and state witness Nombasa Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu between 2016 and 2019.
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The court also heard extensively about work carried out at her Bruma home, including renovations, a boundary wall, security structures, bedrooms, bathrooms, the kitchen and curtains.
She said renovations had begun after she and her family moved into the house in 2004.
These included replacing carpets with wooden flooring because of asthma, changing the kitchen cupboards, opening up rooms, replacing a veranda wall with glass and altering the bedrooms.
Further work was carried out over several years, including in 2018, 2019 and 2020.
A R100,000 payment from the Department of Public Works was also raised in relation to security improvements.
Mapisa-Nqakula said the money was used for the boundary wall, while a small structure shown in photographs was a temporary police security room and had not been constructed with those funds.
She said the house’s renovations were managed by interior decorator Nomsa Shabangu, who sourced builders and oversaw the work while Mapisa-Nqakula and her husband were often away.
“We were helped by Nomsa. My lady, it would depend on what type of work needs to be done at that particular time. In other things, for example, the closing up of where the pillars are, that was done by people recommended by Nomsa.
“The kitchen was done by people recommended by Nomsa. The majority of the work that needed to be paid, my lady, we were the ones paying it. The most challenging part to me was when I need to buy material because I am not familiar with that space,” she testified.
Shabangu previously testified that Mapisa-Nqakula paid her about R1.7 million in cash for renovations, luxury furniture and décor at the home. Work included extensive renovations and custom-made furnishings.
The state alleged that these payments, especially being in cash, were made from the money Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu paid to the former minister.
But Mapisa-Nqakula said payments were frequently made in cash because neither she nor many of the workers had bank accounts or used cheques.
“I am not an EFT person. Ever since they got away with cheques, I struggled. It took me a very long time, my lady, to learn on how to use this EFT and I only got to necessarily learn about it now that I am on retirement,” she said.
She also rejected an allegation concerning expensive curtains.
“I do not have curtains worth R600,000, my lady. In actual fact, I don’t even think I have curtains for R200,000. I am mentioning this, my lady, because this was mentioned here,” she said.
Shabangu previously testified that she supplied and installed custom-made double-volume curtains, rails and specialised fabric valued at about R600,000.
Mapisa-Nqakula faces 12 counts of corruption and one count of money laundering.
The trial continues.
