PRETORIA - Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has denied using coded words to conceal alleged bribes from Nombasa Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu.
The former Defence Minister conceded to meeting Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu several times. The first was in 2016, following a phone call after a friend, Granny Seape, told her that Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu was having problems with the Defence Force.
Mapisa-Nqakula insists the meetings were social and that money was never discussed.
READ: Mapisa-Nqakula back in the witness box as corruption trial continues
“She told me she was given a tender by the Defence Force, but had just received a letter withdrawing the tender,” she told the court.
She met Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu three more times in 2017.
She told the court that the meetings followed a message from army general Mbuyiselo Mgwebi that Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu wanted to raise a complaint about late Defence Secretary Dr Sam Gulube.
Mapisa-Nqakula’s evidence-in-chief comes after her bid to have the charges against her withdrawn was dismissed by the High Court in Pretoria.
She faces 12 charges of corruption and one of money laundering.
These are linked to allegations that she solicited and received millions of rands in bribes while serving as Defence Minister.
The former minister also admitted that Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu visited her home, but says they discussed a family matter.