- Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, who recently stepped down as speaker of South Africa's National Assembly, was arrested Thursday on corruption and money laundering charges. New York Times (LR: 2 CP: 5)
- Following weeks of investigations, she turned herself over to police as her request for a court order to interdict her arrest was dismissed on Tuesday. BBC News (LR: 3 CP: 5)
- Subsequently, Mapisa-Nqakula was taken to Pretoria Magistrates Court before being released on bail of 50K rand (about $2.7K). Her case has been postponed to June 4. Associated Press (LR: 3 CP: 5)
- While Mapisa-Nqakula isn't considered a flight risk, her bail conditions include surrendering her passport by Monday and refraining from contacting state witnesses. TimesLIVE
- The former parliamentarian is accused of soliciting bribes totaling more than 4.5M rand (about $240K) during her time as defense minister. Mapisa-Nqakula denies the allegations. Guardian (LR: 2 CP: 5)
- Though she would be replaced by her deputy, Lechesa Tsenoli, the Democratic Alliance has called for a new speaker to be urgently elected. South Africa goes to the polls on May 29. TRT Afrika
Narrative A:
- Mapisa-Nqakula has relinquished her position not as an indication or admission of guilt but to uphold the integrity of the parliament. Her arrest means nothing, as she will eventually prove her innocence from these disturbing allegations. If anything, these latest developments show her respect for the country and its institutions.
DAILY MAVERICK
Narrative B:
- On top of being a disaster during her tenure as speaker, Mapisa-Nqakula has further damaged the reputation of the National Assembly as she sought to use her position to interfere with and delay investigations into her alleged corruption scandal. She's finally gone now, but she should have resigned long ago.
EWN
Nerd narrative:
- There's a 33% chance that the ANC will receive more than 50% of the vote in the 2024 South African general election, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
METACULUS (LR: 3 CP: 3)