More from Stephen May, a lawyer for South Africa’s Speaker of Parliament, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula.

As well as rejecting media reports that the speaker had handed herself in to the police, he said Ms Mapisa-Nqakula believed an investigation into her by state prosecutors’ was politically motivated.

The probe was sparked by accusations that Ms Mapisa-Nqakula had solicited bribes in return for awarding contracts when she served as defence minister.

Mr May said Ms Mapisa-Nqakula and her team were demanding access to the prosecutors’ case file in order to better understand the allegations against her.