In trying to avoid possible jail time, former National Assembly speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has argued she will not be able to stand the bad prison conditions.
She was granted R50,000 bail by the Pretoria magistrate's court where she faces 12 counts of corruption and one of money laundering.
She allegedly accepted kickbacks of more than R2m in contracts during her tenure as defence minister.
Through an affidavit read by her lawyer Graham Kerr-Phillips, she slammed prisons as she motivated why she should remain free pending her trial.
Mapisa-Nqakula said there were “chronic failings” in the prison system such as overcrowding and gang activity.
“Assault by inmates as well as correctional services officers is a constant threat. Membership of gangs is often predicated by an assault. Applying the concept of systemic failure, South African prison and juvenile facilities do not have facilities available to make provision for my safety and security. Activities of gangs are to organise uninvited sexual contact or facilitate the drug trade. The chief targets of such are the old and the young.”
POLL | Are Mapisa-Nqakula's reasons for being kept out of prison valid?
Image: REUTERS/Alet Pretorius
In trying to avoid possible jail time, former National Assembly speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has argued she will not be able to stand the bad prison conditions.
She was granted R50,000 bail by the Pretoria magistrate's court where she faces 12 counts of corruption and one of money laundering.
She allegedly accepted kickbacks of more than R2m in contracts during her tenure as defence minister.
Through an affidavit read by her lawyer Graham Kerr-Phillips, she slammed prisons as she motivated why she should remain free pending her trial.
Mapisa-Nqakula said there were “chronic failings” in the prison system such as overcrowding and gang activity.
“Assault by inmates as well as correctional services officers is a constant threat. Membership of gangs is often predicated by an assault. Applying the concept of systemic failure, South African prison and juvenile facilities do not have facilities available to make provision for my safety and security. Activities of gangs are to organise uninvited sexual contact or facilitate the drug trade. The chief targets of such are the old and the young.”
TimesLIVE
READ MORE:
LISTEN | Former speaker Mapisa-Nqakula granted R50,000 bail by court
Mapisa-Nqakula resigns as speaker, MP with immediate effect
Prison means uninvited sex, diseases, drugs, violence and gangs: Mapisa-Nqakula pleads to be kept out of jail
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