More than two years after handing herself over to law enforcement authorities, former National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula finally appeared in the Gauteng Division of the High Court in Pretoria on Wednesday, 22 July 2026. She faces 12 counts of corruption and one count of money laundering arising from her tenure as defence minister between 2016 and 2019.

Dressed in a blue umbhaco, traditional Xhosa attire, Mapisa-Nqakula appeared calm in the dock, unlike at her first court appearance when she broke down in tears.

The indictment, seen by Daily Maverick, alleges that between December 2016 and July 2019, she requested cash and other benefits worth R4.55-million from defence contractor Nombasa Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu, the sole director of logistics company Umkhombe Marine.

The total value of the alleged requests amounts to R4.55-million, although the State says Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu ultimately paid R2.15-million, all in cash, most of which went to service providers for home improvements at Mapisa-Nqakula’s Johannesburg residence.

Former Speaker of the National Assembly and defence minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula appears on corruption charges at the Pretoria Magistrates’ Court on 9 July 2024. (Photo: Gallo Images / Beeld / Deaan Vivier)

By the end of the first day of the trial proceedings, the State had laid out what it intends to prove: that a relationship which began after Umkhombe Marine secured a lucrative SANDF contract evolved into repeated requests for cash, allegedly disguised by coded language, intermediaries and private meetings.

Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu, who has been granted indemnity under Section 204 of the Criminal Procedure Act, is expected to begin giving evidence when the trial resumes on Thursday.

R104m contract

At the heart of the State’s case is a R104-million SANDF logistics contract awarded to Umkhombe Marine in February 2016. According to the indictment, the contract was suspended only days after it had been awarded.

Seeking assistance, Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu then obtained Mapisa-Nqakula’s contact details and approached the then defence minister.

“The accused undertook to investigate the matter,” the State says in its summary of substantial facts.

The State alleges that this intervention marked the beginning of a relationship between the two women that would continue for the next three years.

According to the indictment, the first request came in November 2016, when Mapisa-Nqakula allegedly instructed the late Secretary for Defence, Dr Sam Gulube, to approach Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu for R300,000.

The State alleges that Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu handed the money to Gulube in cash a few days later.

A second request, this time for R400,000, allegedly followed shortly afterwards.

Rather than pay, Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu requested a meeting with Mapisa-Nqakula.

According to the indictment, they met at the InterContinental Hotel at OR Tambo International Airport in December 2016.

“There, the accused confirmed that she had indeed sent Gulube to Nombasa to ask for both the R300,000.00 and R400,000.00. It was agreed that all future engagements would be directly between the accused and Nombasa [Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu],” the State alleges.

From then until July 2019, the State says, the requests continued.

‘R300,000 and a wig’

The indictment lists 12 separate instances in which Mapisa-Nqakula allegedly accepted or agreed to accept gratification.

The alleged requests range from R100,000 to R2-million, including one request allegedly made in US dollars and another involving “R300,000 and a wig”.

According to the State, ordinary words such as “Impepho”, “wig”, “padkos” and “snuff” were allegedly used as codes during conversations between the two to disguise requests for money.

The State contends that these were not isolated exchanges, but formed part of an established pattern that went on for almost three years.

R2m for a promotion

The State alleges that in September 2018, Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu was summoned to Mapisa-Nqakula’s home in Bruma, Johannesburg, after being told there was an ancestral message for her.

According to the State, she anticipated another request for money before she arrived and took cash with her.

Instead, the State alleges, Mapisa-Nqakula requested R2-million to secure the promotion of Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu’s husband, Major-General Noel Ndhlovu.

“Nombasa was expecting a request for cash and therefore took some cash with her. However, at the visit the accused then requested payment of R2m in order to secure the promotion of Nombasa’s husband. Nombasa however refused to make such payment as she believed that her husband would in any event be promoted. The payment request was however never complied with,” the State argued.

Renovations and money laundering

The sole money laundering charge alleges that the cash payments constituted the proceeds of unlawful activities and that Mapisa-Nqakula performed acts intended to conceal or disguise their nature or source.

The indictment further alleges that some of the money was used to pay for renovations and decorating work at her Johannesburg residence.

“The accused was doing building renovations and decorations at her residence,” the State alleges.

“A total of approximately R1,670,000.00 was paid in cash to the service providers at various stages. Part of the gratifications/proceeds of unlawful activities were utilised to pay the service providers.”

The corruption charges allege that Mapisa-Nqakula accepted or agreed to accept gratification in exchange for acting, or influencing others to act, in ways that were “illegal and/or dishonest”, amounted to “the abuse of a position of authority”, breached public trust and produced “an unjustified result”.

Holomisa takes the stand

The State’s first witness was United Democratic Movement leader and Deputy Minister of Defence Bantu Holomisa, whose evidence focused on explaining how the allegations first entered the public domain.

Holomisa, the main complainant in the case, testified that Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu approached him because she felt “harassed” by repeated requests for money from the then defence minister and believed he could help as she had evidence to back up her claims.

Deputy Minister of Defence Bantu Holomisa testified in the case against former defence minister and Speaker of the National Assembly Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula on 22 July 2026. (Photo: Deon Ferreira)

His evidence traced the path from those conversations to the letter he wrote to Parliament in 2021, alleging that Mapisa-Nqakula had received gifts and cash from a SANDF contractor. That intervention ultimately helped to bring the allegations into the public domain before investigators took over.

The State’s case will on Thursday turn to Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu, whose testimony is expected to form its foundation.

As the alleged source of every cash payment, she is expected to testify first-hand about each of the alleged requests and tell the court about the meetings, coded conversations and cash deliveries at the centre of the State’s case against Mapisa-Nqakula. DM