Speaker of Parliament Nosiviwe Mapisa Nqakula Hails New Position, Says She Will Not Betray SA

• Parliament's new Speaker, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, has shown appreciation to the ANC for choosing her to lead the National Assembly
• Mapisa-Nqakula in her acceptance speech stated that she would hold ministers accountable and is committed to being a non-biased Speaker
• She also made a pledge to all South Africans to uphold the standards of Parliament and never betray her country

CAPE TOWN - In her acceptance speech as the newly appointed Speaker of the National Assembly, Nosiviwe Mapisa pledged never to take the African National Congress' faith in her ability to lead Parliament lightly.

Despite her appointment as Speaker of Parliament being highly controversial and widely-debated, Mapisa-Nqakula also stated that she would never compromise the people of South Africa, according to News24.

While Mapisa-Nqakula has served as a Cabinet minister since 2002 and has been a member of Parliament for nearly two decades, her new position requires her to be a non-biased figure. She is now obligated to ensure that the interests of all political parties are represented, not just the ANC.

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In her speech, Mapisa-Nqakula stated that she understands that she has to make a transition to uphold the standards of the National Assembly and to hold ministers accountable, according to TimesLIVE.

"I therefore fully appreciate the extent of the transition I must personally make to fulfil my obligations and those of this house to ensure accountability and oversight of the executive branch [Government],” said Mapisa-Nqakula.

Newly-elected Speaker of Parliament accused of corruption

Mapisa-Nqakula was appointed in the wake of investigations being launched to probe allegations of corruption she may have committed while she was the Minister of Defence.

She is accused of receiving nearly R12 million in bribes, gifts and expensive hotel stays from a company that was contracted by the Department of Defence, according to News24.

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Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula voted in as 6th Speaker of National Assembly

Briefly News previously reported that on Thursday, 19 August Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula was voted in as the sixth Speaker of the National Assembly. This follows Thandi Modise being appointed the new Minister of Defence after serving just two years of her term as Speaker of Parliament. The election started at 11am and was done through a secret ballot.

The secret ballot was held at three different sites in order to maintain Covid-19 regulations as all members were physically present. Reports by SABC News revealed that the Democratic Alliance (DA) nominated Dr Annelie Lotriet to contest the position.

The Economic Freedom Fighters, on the other hand, did not attend the election as they did not want to partake in "rubber-stamping Ramaphosa's violation of the separation of powers", according to TimesLIVE.

Source: Briefly News