In an interview, Mngoma detailed Gigaba’s alleged infidelity during their marriage, porn addiction and misuse of public funds.
Malusi Gigaba, the former finance and home affairs minister, has refused to respond to his ex-wife’s allegations about him and their marriage, saying he wants to protect his family’s dignity.
“For the well-being and dignity of my children, that I live with, whom I raise, I would rather not respond,” Gigaba said, speaking to Gagasi FM’s Alex Mthiyane.
In July, Gigaba’s ex-wife, Norma Mngoma, was a guest on an episode of Untied, a talk show series that unpacks the complex world of divorce through the stories of famous women who have lived it.
In the episode, Mngoma detailed Gigaba’s alleged infidelity during their marriage, porn addiction and misuse of public funds.
A month before Mngoma’s episode aired, Gigaba attempted to block its broadcast by taking the matter to the Johannesburg High Court. The court dismissed the matter, giving Showmax the green light to broadcast the episode.
Gigaba has now described Mngoma’s assertions as emotional abuse.
“It’s emotional abuse, it’s mental abuse… but you’ve got to be mature enough as an adult, as a father, parent and a responsible member of society. It’s quite unfortunate when such types of allegations are made, but once you start responding to any of them, then you have to respond to all of them.”
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Gigaba wants to protect his family’s dignity
Gigaba said responding to Mngoma’s tell-all interview would dent his family’s dignity.
“My family would expect a certain level of responsibility and behaviour on my part, [rather] than to drag myself through the mud. Thirdly, the fact that somebody has made allegations does not make those allegations true,” said Gigaba.
In the interview, Mngoma said her ex-husband had mistresses who would reach out to her about Gigaba’s alleged infidelity.
According to Mngoma, it reached the point where some of the women were allegedly blackmailing Gigaba.
“They wanted him to cancel the wedding. ‘Then I’m gonna tell your wife this and that.’ It was just a lot. He made me believe that these things were not true and did not exist.”
Mngoma alleged that during this time, Gigaba was more focused on keeping a “clean” public image of the couple.
“In the beginning, he never paid so much attention to fixing things in the house. He was more of how the public sees him… and then he’s posting me,” she said.
Mngoma alleged that Gigaba would make up excuses not to attend therapy sessions he initiated. She recalled that at one point, Gigaba accused a therapist, who is white, of being racist.
“Or sometimes he will say ‘no, the therapist is DA’. He used to have a reason why he’s not continuing, and I will find another one,” Mngoma said.
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Gigaba responds with denial
“The fact that somebody has made allegations about you, to which you have not responded or you are not responding, does not either make those allegations true or mean that you are running away from responding to those things,” said Gigaba in response to Mngoma’s statements.
“It just means that you have thought carefully about your responsibility, particularly to your children and you want to protect them by not getting into that street fight that will live on.”
The politician said that members of the public may be interested in the ‘fist fight’ between him and Mngoma.
“Gossip and hearsay is lovely, but the dignity of your children has to matter most and to me, it matters most, and that’s why I’m not responding to this.”
The ANC member said he might, at the right time and on the right platform, respond to Mngoma’s allegations against him.
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