Under pressure Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula call it quits!

South African speaker of national assembly Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has on Wednesday, April 3 announced she is quitting as the member of parliament and as the speaker after calls to vacate her position grew louder.

Her resignation comes two days after she lost a court bid to interdict her arrest over corruption allegations totalling R4.55m, dating back to her days as defence minister.

“My resignation is in no way an indication or admission of guilt regarding the allegations being levelled against me. I have made a decision in order to uphold the integrity and sanctity of our Parliament, an apex institution of our system of government, representing the people of South Africa,” said Mapisa-Nqakula.

The resignation comes after the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria dismissed her urgent appeal to prevent the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and the SA Police Service from arresting her on corruption charges.

The State alleges that, during her tenure as defence minister, Mapisa-Nqakula receiveda large sum of money in bribes and gratifications from a defence contractor, who has now turned State witness.

The bribes were allegedly paid after former air hostess and businesswoman Nombasa Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu, the sole director of Umkhombe Marine (Pty) Ltd, and herself, a tender fraud suspect, received payments for the defence contracts she had received.

Meanwhile, the official opposition party, Democratic Alliance (DA) tabled down motion of no confidence against Mapisa-Nqakula.