The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) admitted that they have shared a list of witnesses with the former speaker’s defence attorney, as prescribed by the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court.
However, it remains unclear if the leaked list is an authenticated one as two of the witness have since denied that they were part of the witnesses that were expected to testify against Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula.
Speaking with the publication on Thursday, the Investigating Directorate (ID) spokesperson Henry Mamothame confirmed that the list was indeed shared with Mapisa-Nqakula’s legal team.
“The list was shared with the defence team, as per the court’s ruling, based on her bail conditions that she should not have any direct or indirect contact with the State’s witnesses. No further disclosures were made, other than this one,” Mamothame said.
On the validity of the list, the ID spokesperson did not want to be drawn into whether the leaked list was legitimate, adding that everything would be revealed in court in due course.
“We can’t comment on any list other than the one that will be disclosed in a trial court,” he said.
This comes after a prominent legal maestro Zola Majavu had denied being a State witness in the case against the former speaker.
Majavu has publicly refuted this claim, despite his name being listed.
UDM leader General Bantu Holomisa, whose name also appeared on the list, confirmed that he was not approached by the prosecution to be a State witness.
“They have not (approached me) but it’s automatic that a person who laid a complaint is a witness,” he explained.
He reminded all the publications that he was the one that tabled the report to the joint standing committee on Defence in 2021, where both Cyril Xaba, committee chairperson, and Mapisa-Nqakula said if he had evidence of alleged corruption against her, he must report it to the police.
“I followed her advice by co-operating with the police investigation. Therefore, I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m one of the witnesses.”
There were reports over the weekend suggesting that the NPA had lined up 17 witnesses to testify against the embattled former speaker of Parliament, who has been charged with corruption.
The State witness list also included three former SANDF generals: Derrick Mgwebi, Gerald Sizani, and Noel Ndlhovu.
Ndlhovu is the husband of the State star witness, Nombasa Ntsondwa-Ndlhovu, who was offered section 204, and she is second on the witness list that was provided to Mapisa-Nqakula this week, and seen by Sunday World.
The list also included her former spokesperson, Joy Peter.
The former speaker is accused of receiving bribes in cash to the tune of R4.5 million and other gifts, including expensive wigs from SANDF contractors, while she was a the defence minister between June, 2012, and August, 2021.
Ntsondwa-Ndlhovu submitted an explosive affidavit to the law enforcement agencies in which she confessed to bribing Mapisa-Nqakula with R2.5m in 11 different payments.
Ntsondwa-Ndlhovu’s company, Umkhombe Marine, received contracts worth about R210m during Mapisa-Nqakula’s tenure at the Defence Ministry.
The former speaker has since been released on R50 000 bail.