Lungani Zungu
Malusi Gigaba will grill his soon-to-be ex-wife Nomachule “Norma” Mngoma on Wednesday at the state capture commission of inquiry.
Mngoma dropped bombshells at the commission a fews weeks ago and exposed Gigaba’s close relationship with the controversial Gupta family. she told Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo that Gigaba used to collect stashes of cash from the Guptas.
The estranged couple will come face-to-face for the first time at the commission.
The former finance minister was at the commission on Monday where admitted that he had a close relationship with the Guptas but rubbished claims that they gave him money or influenced his ministerial decisions.
He labelled Mngoma as a liar who loved money and all things flashy.
Gigaba and Mngoma, who got married in 2014, were once a power couple but six years later, their relationship has floundered. Gigaba claimed last week that Mngoma had plotted to kill him.
Zondo asked Gigaba why he sent his special adviser Siyabonga Mahlangu to meet with the Guptas at their home instead of asking them to come to his office. He said he wouldn’t expect a special adviser of any minister to be meeting a family that was accused of capturing the state at their home.
Gigaba said he believed that he acted wrongly.
“In hindsight, one should’ve done better,” he said.
He shot down claims that he turned a blind eye when Mahlangu bullied some CEOs of state-owned enterprises.
Today the commission will hear the evidence of Paul Holden, a director of investigations at the Shadow World of Investigations. His evidence will focus on the flow of funds between the companies and people who captured the state.
Holden previously told the commission that money spent on contracts tainted by state capture amounted to R49 billion.
Image source: @GCIS
