Former Speaker Baleka Mbete defends Mapisa-Nqakula

Former National Assembly speaker, Baleka Mbete, has defended the current Speaker, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, against the allegations of corruption leveled against her.

She says those who accuse Mapisa-Nqakula do not have concrete evidence to prove any wrongdoing by he Speaker. Mbete says there’s a vendetta to discredit Mapisa-Nqakula.

‘THEY VIOLATED HER PRIVACY,’ SAYS MBETE

“They violated her privacy, and she allowed them to do so in calmness and dignity, and I just think they should be ashamed of themselves. You must say what it is that you want a person to account for,” said Mbete.

“Yes, sure, there must be accountability, but come and say what is it that you are looking for on the basis of what,” she told SABC News on the sidelines of the Battle of the Cuito Cuanavle commemoration in Pretoria.

The Hawks raided Mapisa-Nqakula’s house east of Johannesburg earlier this week amid allegations that she took bribes while still the Defence Minister.

MBETE EXPRESSES DISAPOINTMENT OVER ZUMA AND MK PARTY

Mbete has also expressed disappointment that senior African National Congress (ANC) leader and former party president Jacob Zuma has decided to support and campaign for the Umkonto Wesizwe (MK) party before the May 29th elections.

Mbete says she is shocked that Zuma could consider himself a leader of the ANC, a more than a century-old party. She says Zuma cannot be a member of the ANC and can campaign for another party.

“It is a disappointment for those who worked with him who thought we knew him, but of course, he has now defined himself differently. I think South Africans must be very sober in analysing what this means who this person is and what he represents,” Mbete said.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ARTICLES BY GCINA NTSALUBA