South Africa's parliament speaker resigns over accusations of bribery

South Africa’s parliament speaker resigned on Wednesday and relinquished her seat in the legislature over allegations of corruption, a day after she lost a bid in court that would block her arrest, Report informs, referring to The Hamilton Spectator.

Prosecutors last week said they intend to charge Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula with corruption, accusing her of receiving about $135,000 in bribes from a defense contractor during her three years as defense minister.

She allegedly received the payments between December 2016 and July 2019, while another bribe, amounting to $105,000, was not paid.

Mapisa-Nqakula announced in a statement that she has tendered her resignation but insisted she was innocent of the accusations against her.

“I have made this conscious decision in order to dedicate my time and focus to deal with the recently announced investigation against me by our country's law enforcement agencies,” she said. “My resignation is in no way an indication or admission of guilt regarding the allegations being levelled against me.”