Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula in the dock on Wednesday during her corruption trial.
Image: Timothy Bernard / ANAStudio
United Democratic Movement leader Bantu Holomisa was shocked when members of the Standing Committee on Defence were more concerned about where the complaint of allegedly soliciting bribes by former minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula came from than the complaint itself.
This is according to Holomisa, who was the first witness to take the stand in Mapisa-Nqakula’s corruption trial, which officially kicked off on Wednesday, nearly two years after she surrendered to the police.
She pleaded not guilty to 12 charges of corruption and one of money laundering. The State alleges that she solicited R4.5 million in bribes from a contractor during her time as Defence minister.
Holomisa was the first person to bring the allegations to the attention of the chairperson of Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Defence.
This came after Nombasa Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu - the State's star witness - told him about it. She was, at the time of the alleged offences, the sole director of Umkhombe Marine Pty Ltd.
She held a tender with the SANDF at the time to provide logistics services to the defence force.
Holomisa said he was shocked by the response when he, for the first time, wrote to the standing committee, alerting them to the allegations. Their only response to him at that time was questioning him on who gave him the information.
Holomisa testified that he felt the allegations made by Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu against Mapisa-Nqakula were so grave that it was his duty to bring them to the attention of the standing committee.
He sent the first letter on March 26, 2021, and the subject matter of the letter was “serious questions around the allegation of R5 million in dubious payments made by a SANDF contractor against Minister Mapisa-Nqakula”.
Holomisa said apart from asking for his source, the member of the standing committee told him that if he (Holomisa) believed he had a case, he should instead report it to the police.
He explained that he first received the complaint in December 2020, when a teary Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu told him she had to pay money to Mapisa-Nqakula and said she had proof of the payments.
This statement by her attracted his attention, he said. “She told me her heart is sore and that she felt she has been used, or perhaps even robbed,” he testified.
They met about three times after this, and she had submitted the proof, which included WhatsApp messages between her and “Mama”, which Holomisa said referred to the accused.
He decided to take the matter to the standing committee - which at the time only consisted of ANC members - due to his anti-corruption stance. Holomisa said it was only later when Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu’s lawyers were summoned to Parliament that “they understood the matter should be investigated”.
He testified that he was, in the beginning, not happy with the manner in which Parliament handled the matter, and he sent three letters to it regarding the subject. He eventually made an affidavit before the police, which was the start of the matter.
Holomisa said he never had a gripe with either Mapisa-Nqakula or her husband, Charles Nqakula. They have known each other for years, and he even attended gatherings at their home. Holomisa said even after this matter became public, they would converse when they met at events.
On or about November 2016, Mapisa-Nqakula allegedly requested the late Secretary of Defence, Dr Sam Gulube, to approach Nombasa and ask her for R300,000.
Nombasa allegedly handed R300,000 in cash to Gulube a few days later. It is claimed that a second request was made by Gulube on behalf of the accused for an amount of R400,000.
Nombasa apparently decided not to pay and instead sought a meeting with Mapisa-Nqakula.
It is further claimed that in December 2016, one Nozuko arranged with Nombasa for her to meet the accused at the InterContinental Hotel at OR Tambo International Airport.
It is alleged that during this meeting, Mapisa-Nqakula confirmed that she had indeed sent Gulube to Nombasa to ask for both the R300,000 and R400,000.
It is claimed that of the R4,550,000 asked for by Mapisa-Nqakula, Nombasa paid a total of R2,150,000 in cash to her.
The former minister vehemently denied these allegations.
Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu is, meanwhile, due to take the stand on Thursday.