Johnathan Paoli
National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula’s bid to interdict her arrest has officially been struck from the roll in the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Tuesday which found her bid “speculative and unreasonable”.
Judge Sulet Potteries struck the Speaker’s urgent bid from the roll with cost and said she is “not unsure” about the state’s corruption case against Mapisa-Nqakula and declined to examine the evidence against her.
In dismissing Mapisa-Nqakula’s case, Potteries also said granting her application would culminate in a situation in which suspects could control the justice system.
“If the court grants such an order, the floodgates will be open, every suspect will be in a position to approach the court on an urgent basis, setting out on speculation that there is a weak case against it, interdict and arrest,” the judge said.
Potteries said that even though the court found that the matter was not urgent, the applicant’s demands were unreasonable as this court could not make a judgement about the merits of the case which is set to be determined by another ruling.
The United Democratic Movement, welcomed the court’s ruling, with party leader Bantu Holomisa saying that following his party’s letter to the Joint Standing Committee on Defence in 2021, he was waiting for the Speaker to “do the right thing” and hand herself over to the police.
“She must please spare us this business of a motion of no confidence in the National Assembly Speaker. We are busy campaigning. Mapisa-Nqakula must present herself to SAPS finish and klaar!” Holomisa said.
In a damning 63-page answering affidavit, arguing for Mapisa-Nqakula’s urgent application to be struck off the roll in the High Court in Pretoria, ID deputy director of public prosecutions advocate Bheki Manyathi said every member of society was equal before the law.
The speaker is currently facing 12 counts of corruption involving more than R4 million and one count of money-laundering and some reports have indicated that she is expected to be arrested by the end of business tomorrow or she must hand herself over to the police station.
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