By Mapaballo Borotho

- The State’s key witness admitted to using an unauthorised foreign exchange service to convert R150,000 into US dollars for Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula.
- She testified that she acted out of fear, claiming she risked losing defence contracts if she refused the former Speaker’s alleged demands.
- Mapisa-Nqakula has pleaded not guilty to 12 counts of corruption and money laundering.
The State’s key witness in the corruption trial involving former National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has admitted to her own involvement in an unlawful foreign currency transaction.
Nombasa Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu testified in the Pretoria High Court on Friday that she used an unauthorised foreign exchange service at Bruma China Mall to convert R150,000 into US dollars for Mapisa-Nqakula.
She told the court that she handed the former Speaker a bag containing the foreign currency the following day at Waterkloof Air Force Base in Pretoria.
In response to questions from Judge Mashudu Munzhelele about her own alleged criminal conduct, Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu said she acted under duress because she feared Mapisa-Nqakula, who allegedly insisted on receiving the money in US dollars.
She testified that she was concerned she would lose defence contracts if she did not comply with the alleged demands.
Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu further claimed that in 2018, Mapisa-Nqakula summoned her to her Johannesburg home and demanded R2 million for her husband’s promotion.
She told the court she was shocked by the request because her husband, Major-General Dr Noel Ndhlovu, was already a qualified and experienced medical doctor.
According to her testimony, Dr Ndhlovu had served as head of One Military Hospital, and she believed there was no reason to pay for his promotion.
Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu said she refused to make the payment because she believed her husband deserved to be promoted on merit.
She testified that he was ultimately not promoted.
The case against Mapisa-Nqakula
The testimony forms part of the corruption trial against Mapisa-Nqakula in the Pretoria High Court.
She faces 12 counts of corruption and money laundering, with the State alleging that she solicited R4.55 million in bribes from South African National Defence Force (SANDF) contractor Nombasa Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu between December 2016 and July 2019.
The alleged offences date back to her tenure as Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, a position she held from June 2012 until August 2021.
Following her arrest in April 2024, Mapisa-Nqakula stepped down as Speaker of Parliament.
She has pleaded not guilty to all the charges against her.
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