National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula. (Jaco Marais/Netwerk24)
Hours before the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria cleared the way for the State to arrest National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, her lawyer told prosecutions boss Shamila Batohi she should be summonsed to appear in court “without the need for arrest or bail”.
In a letter sent to Batohi and Investigating Directorate (ID) officials, who are pursuing a R2.3 million corruption and money-laundering case against Mapisa-Nqakula, attorney Stephen May offered to “make myself available for the service of the summons” against her, which he said would ensure that the “court’s roll will not be unnecessarily burdened by a superfluous and unopposed bail application”.
This, May added, would also mean that “the date, time and place for my client’s appearance can be determined and the process will be orderly and speedy; and the risk of my client’s unnecessary detention (which you have incorrectly indicated is not a risk) due to overburdened court rolls will be eliminated”.
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