Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba apologises over hacked sex tape off his phone
The minister says those who have the tape tried to blackmail him with it, but he did not entertain it.
Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba took to Twitter on Sunday to reveal that a leaked sex recording of him and his wife has been used in blackmail and extortion attempts against him.
He said the recording must have been stolen in a phone hack from 2016 or 2017, and the contents were meant to be private.
In a series of tweets, he apologised for the incident.
“My wife and I have learned, with regret and sadness, that a video containing material of a sexual nature, meant for our eyes only, which was stolen when my communication got illegally intercepted/my phone got hacked, in 2016/17, is circulating among certain political figures.
“This video has been at the centre of a number of blackmail and extortion attempts, dating back to the period immediately following my appointment as Minister of Finance, on 31 March 2017, all of which I have steadfastly refused to entertain.
“These blackmail/extortion attempts as well as the illegal interception of my communication/hacking of my phone have all been reported to the relevant law enforcement/intelligence agencies and I am advised that the resultant investigations are still continuing.
“I take this opportunity to publicly apologise, in advance, to the rest of my family – especially my kids, my mom and my in-laws – and the South African public for the pain and embarrassment the likely wider distribution of this private material will cause.”
He said he hoped the country would “constructively engage with the question of whether it is correct to condone and promote the gross invasion of the privacy of others by distributing such material, more especially in the clear absence of a public interest justification”.
My wife and I have learned, with regret and sadness, that a video containing material of a sexual nature, meant for our eyes only, which was stolen when my communication got illegally intercepted/my phone got hacked, in 2016/17, is circulating among certain political figures…
— Malusi Gigaba (@mgigaba) October 28, 2018
He concluded by saying that he had asked “Vuyo Mkhize of public affairs consultancy Kapital Mindz to handle all media enquires relating to this matter on behalf of my family and I. Khabazela has been assisting me, in my personal capacity, with the management of this matter, since around May 2017.”
I hope our nation will, someday, constructively engage with the question of whether it is correct to condone and promote the gross invasion of the privacy of others by distributing such material, more especially in the clear absence of a public interest justification…
— Malusi Gigaba (@mgigaba) October 28, 2018
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