The soon to be ex-wife of former finance minister Malusi Gigaba – Norma Mngoma – has revealed details of how he was bankrolled by the Gupta family.
Mngoma and Gigaba were married for six years but, after accusations of cheating and an incident in which Mngoma keyed a Mercedes Benz G-wagon, their union came to an end. Gigaba had Mngoma arrested for damaging the luxury R3m car which was owned by a businessman friend of his. Mngoma spent a weekend in a Pretoria jail and was released on bail. She faces charges of malicious damage to property.
In an interview with eNCA, Mngoma said through her marriage to Gigaba she noticed how he would meet with the Guptas and they would give him lavish gifts and bags of cash. This has been further corroborated by Gigaba’s former bodyguard, who told the Zondo commission Gigaba used the money to buy custom, designer tailored suits.
Norma Mngoma said the Guptas also paid for her wedding, her honeymoon and renovations of a property.
“Though I was not there when they gave him the money, I would see him when we left. Every time when we were there he used to carry the bag and they will give him money and when we get home he used to take the money out and put it in the safe and pack it.”
“They used to give him a lot of money but I don’t know what they were giving him money for. Sometimes he used to say that he did favours for them [the Guptas] so then they will give him money. But it was a lot of cash, all the time,” said Mngoma.
The meetings with the Guptas were not limited to their Saxonwold compound. According to Norma Mngoma, they would visit their Pretoria home as well.
“We used to go there frequently but sometimes they used to come to our house as well. But we used to go there a lot, especially when he was at DPE [the department of public enterprises], lesser at home affairs, but at DPE it was a lot.
“There was a time he was asked in parliament how many times he had been there and he was like, it was occasional and he could not remember, but when we were there, there were no occasions, there were meetings … They were working,” said Mngoma.
After eNCA shared a preview of the interview, Gigaba took to Twitter to say he would not be commenting on Mngoma’s statement.
“To Whom It May Concern. Please note that I shall not be commenting on any aspect of the Moja Love TV audition which will be airing on eNCA at 18h00, tonight. My energy is exclusively reserved for my fight with the askaris who are the de facto puppet masters. #LongLiveTheAnc!”
During her arrest, the Hawks took Mngoma’s cellphone and laptop. She says this was because Gigaba thought there was evidence of his meetings with the Guptas on her devices.
“We have been travelling together and also I think because most of the stuff is because we visited the compound together, the Gupta house, which I think he thinks that I took the pictures of some meetings. Some of the time when there were meetings there I was there, though I did not join in on any meeting.”
She said she would be willing to testify at the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into State Capture if she was called upon to do so.
Watch part 1 of Norma Mngoma’s interview below. This is part 2 and 3 is available here.
