National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has hit out against United Democratic Movement leader Bantu Holomisa for publishing “untruths” about her arrest following allegations of corruption during her tenure as Minister of Defence.

Holomisa, on Friday, published a post on X alleging that Mapisa-Nqakula was arrested. 

It is reported that Mapisa-Nqakula is suspected of receiving millions of rand in cash as bribes from a former military contractor when she was defence minister. She has denied the allegations, calling them "baseless".

On Tuesday National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) investigators raided Mapisa-Nqakula home as part of the corruption inquiry, but did not provide further details on the investigation or the corruption allegations. Mapisa-Nqakula has taken special leave from her role as Speaker while the investigation plays out.

On Friday, claims that Mapisa-Nqakula was arrested or handed herself in to police made its way across some news sites and social media.

“These reports are simply not true and a fabrication by Mr. Holomisa, who simply published these untruths without caring to verify the true facts or the harm that it does to the name of others. It is concerning that the media houses running with the story do not apply a better test to determine the veracity of rumours that they receive before publishing. This is a growing trend in South African media and the practice unfortunately not only undermines the rights of the victims of this gossip reporting but makes a mockery of the independence, integrity and professionalism of our media,” she said in a statement.

She added that she has not interacted with the NPA since the home search on Tuesday and that she is taking court action against the operation and the way in which the search and seizure warrant was obtained.

She is asking the NPA for material information relating to her case, including the docket so that she can begin her defence.

“In her papers the Speaker urges the NPA to provide to her the details of the case against her as this seems to have already been given to the media, subjecting her to a trial by the media, without any means to defend herself against these public allegations,” the Office of the Speaker said in a statement.