The Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula corruption and money laundering trial returns to the Pretoria High Court on Wednesday morning, resuming a process that has repeatedly stalled on the practical mechanics of getting the case heard. The matter was paused in October because of the availability of the lawyers involved, and the resumption will test whether the court schedule and the defence team can now sustain continuous proceedings.
The operational record so far has been uneven. The last time Mapisa-Nqakula was due to appear, she did not attend. Her lawyers presented a sick note indicating she was unwell, but the court nonetheless issued a warrant for her arrest. That warrant was held over until her next appearance on Wednesday, meaning the question of her attendance is not merely procedural but carries direct consequences for whether the trial can proceed as planned.
When the matter was put on hold, Mapisa-Nqakula was in the middle of cross-examination by prosecutors, a phase expected to continue once the court sits again. The resumption therefore picks up the trial at a demanding point, with the accused still under questioning rather than at the start of a new stage.
The case itself concerns allegations that Mapisa-Nqakula solicited R4.5 million in corrupt payments from a South African National Defence Force contractor. The alleged conduct dates back to 2016, when she was the Defence Minister. The State alleges she pocketed R2.2 million of that R4.5 million, said to have been solicited from SANDF contractor Nombasa Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu. Mapisa-Nqakula denies the allegations against her.
For observers tracking whether the judicial process delivers on its timetable, Wednesday’s sitting carries several tests at once. The first is whether the accused appears, given the outstanding warrant held over from her previous absence. The second is whether cross-examination can proceed without further interruption, after a pause attributed to the availability of the lawyers rather than to the court itself. The third is whether the trial can move from a pattern of adjournments toward continuous hearings.
The trial has already shown how fragile its schedule can be. Testimony has been cut short on one occasion after Mapisa-Nqakula fell ill, and she has previously failed to appear in court. Each interruption pushes back the point at which the allegations, which are more than a decade old, can be tested in full. The Pretoria High Court has kept the matter alive through these disruptions, holding the warrant rather than executing it, and setting the matter down again for Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the resumption also places the working relationship between prosecutors and the defence under scrutiny. Cross-examination is the part of a trial most dependent on steady, consecutive sittings, and the October pause interrupted exactly that phase. Whether the remaining questioning can be completed without further breaks will shape how quickly the case advances toward its next stages.
Mapisa-Nqakula, who served as Defence Minister before becoming Speaker of the National Assembly, faces charges of corruption and money laundering. She has denied the allegations throughout. Her appearance before the Pretoria High Court on 7 September 2026 was among her most recent confirmed sittings before the October pause.
Wednesday’s proceedings will be watched for a simple measure of delivery: does the trial sit, does the accused attend, and does cross-examination resume? Those outcomes will determine whether the case moves forward on the court’s timetable or slips again, and whether the warrant held over from her last scheduled appearance is discharged or acted upon. The details of the case, as reported by EWN, are available at https://www.ewn.co.za/2026/11/11/nosiviwe-mapisa-nqakula-s-corruption-trial-set-to-resume.