The dock was empty on Thursday morning.
Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula was due back on the witness stand at the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria to continue her defence. She had already halted proceedings on Wednesday afternoon, telling the court she was unwell after completing three consecutive days of evidence. Her legal representatives arrived for the morning roll call. Mapisa-Nqakula did not appear.
Defence attorney Siyabulela Mapoma handed up a medical certificate dated 9 September, confirming the former Cabinet minister was unfit to attend. Investigating Directorate Against Corruption spokesperson Henry Mamothame confirmed the State received a copy and that the matter was formally postponed in her absence. Judge Mashudu Munzhelele ordered the trial postponed to 16 September 2026, but added a sharp judicial safeguard: the court authorised a warrant for her arrest and directed that it be held over until that next sitting.
Holding over an arrest warrant is standard court procedure when an accused fails to appear on a medical excuse, but it carries immediate legal consequences. If Mapisa-Nqakula fails to step into the dock on 16 September without a fresh, verified medical order accepted by the bench, the warrant becomes executable without further notice.
The sudden pause follows Monday ruling by Judge Munzhelele dismissing Mapisa-Nqakula application for a discharge under Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Act. The court held that the State had established a prima facie case requiring an answer, forcing the former Speaker into the witness box. Over Monday and Tuesday, Mapisa-Nqakula faced intense cross-examination over allegations that she solicited R4.5m from defence logistics contractor Nombasa Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu between December 2016 and July 2019, including over R2m delivered in cash. She has pleaded not guilty to all 12 counts of corruption and one count of money laundering.
By Wednesday afternoon, the physical strain was visible in open court. Instructing attorney Makhi Nogaga told reporters the punishing length of the daily sessions had taken a severe physical toll, with family members seen comforting the accused and massaging her shoulders before the court stood down. The medical certificate itself has not been read into the public record, leaving the specific clinical diagnosis private while the court calendar absorbs another lost week.
A warrant of arrest held over is an interlocutory judicial order where the court authorises the formal detention of an absent accused under Section 170 of the Criminal Procedure Act, but suspends its immediate execution until the next return date. If the accused appears on that scheduled morning and provides verified proof explaining their absence, the warrant is routinely cancelled. If the accused defaults without an excuse accepted by the bench, bail is summarily cancelled, bail money is provisionally forfeited to the State, and police officers are empowered to take the accused into custody.
When a former Speaker of Parliament and defence minister faces criminal prosecution for state tender corruption, every postponed sitting directly consumes public judicial resources and delays legal finality. The State has spent nearly two months presenting witnesses since the trial opened on 20 July. A trial grinding to a halt on doctor notes risks public cynicism that senior political figures receive endless procedural latitude that ordinary accused in regional magistrate courts are never afforded.
* Will Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula return to the witness box on 16 September to conclude her cross-examination, or will her defence team file for an extended medical stay?
* Did the medical certificate specify an acute temporary condition, or does it signal prolonged health issues that could derail the trial timeline before year-end?
* If she appears next Wednesday, will the State seek an independent medical evaluation to verify whether she is fit to endure full-day cross-examination?