A brief history of Norma Mngoma and Malusi Gigaba’s stormy relationship

Mngoma and the former finance minister's relationship woes first became public after his affair with stylist Buhle Mkhize was exposed.

Malusi Gigaba and Norma Mngoma. Picture: Instagram

Norma Mngoma and Malusi Gigaba’s relationship seems to have finally reached its end after years of scandals.

Though the couple has now resorted to publicly shaming each other, with Mngoma now facing charges of malicious damage to property and crimen injuria, and her latest interview on eNCA airing their dirty laundry in public, things have not always been like this.

Mngoma and the former finance minister’s relationship woes became public after his affair with stylist Buhle Mkhize was exposed and Mngoma’s subsequent interview with eNCA in 2017, in which she opened up about the affair, and accused the stylist of being a prostitute who picks up wealthy men.

Though she defended her husband, she admitted it was a tough period for her family.

She said at the time: “When it came, I felt so bad for our parents more than us … because me and him are like buddies. I was feeling so bad for my mother and his mother. When they were going to church, people were reading Drum magazine, they were reading papers, and now we have to explain.

“The angle that it came with, it made me stronger. If I had caught Malusi doing something then I wouldn’t even be sitting here today. But everything was delivered to me. I am an analyst, so I want to know what your intentions are of you telling me this. So what do you want me to do especially since my marriage is so new.”

Picture: screenshot of Buhle’s tweet

‘Be careful of close sources’

Before the interview in April 2017, Mngoma took to social media and told her followers she would support him. She also gave them a lesson on never exposing yourself and family.

“Don’t be tempted to expose yourself and your family too much to the world even if it means those people are in your space 24/7. It is your responsibility to protect you. You can love but share less because you never know when people decide to use the information you shared with them against you or to destroy you.

“Remember we live in a cruel world. Always [bear] in mind that not every listening ear is a caring ear, and betrayal never comes from far. Be careful of close sources to avoid disappointment.”

‘We put tenders together’

In another interview on eNCA in May 2017, in which Mngoma defended Gigaba’s competence as home affairs minister, she left South Africans in anger after disclosing she dealt with a lot of tenders.

“We bring IT in mining. We bring IT in aviation. Also, I deal with a lot of tenders. We put tenders together,” she said in the interview.

She further talked about how her husband was anxious about the finance minister position. He did not want to let go of Home Affairs because he still had plans and had invested a lot in it, she said. She further said she helped her husband transform the department with her IT skills.

“We did the transformation together of technology, because I wanted to help him because I found that there were long queues at Home Affairs, and I know IT, and I know most of the time their system is very slow, so it helps him. For him to adapt to technology, it helps him, I was there.”

When he was appointed finance minister, Gigaba was apparently worried about the rand falling, and again, his wife was there and encouraged him to take the position. He expressed concern about the rand falling, a concern Mngoma said was nothing to worry about.

“I told him ‘just go to finance, the rand will drop and it will go up’,” she said.

Mngoma had previously denied dabbling in government tenders, responding to critics who said she was spending her husband’s money. Speaking to City Press in 2015, Mngoma said she was spending her own money. “I have no tender, as some people believe and neither do I spend Malusi’s money,” she was quoted as saying.

‘Imagine this in your mouth’

Things went quiet for a while for the couple, until Gigaba’s sex video scandal in October 2018 and resignation from Cabinet the following month.

“Imagine this in your mouth” – this is one sentence no one expected to hear Gigaba utter.

Gigaba claimed his phone was hacked and the tape was being used as blackmail.

But the biggest question on South Africans’ minds was whether Gigaba had been caught cheating again. While many were convinced that the video was intended for a mistress, he was adamant it was made for his wife.

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

Now Mngoma says the video was not meant for her.

“That was not my video. Like, I don’t wanna lie. I’ve never imagined something like that in my mouth,” said Mngoma with a chuckle in the interview with eNCA on Thursday.

‘We are unshaken…Our God is a living God’

In January 2019, following Gigaba’s resignation, Mngoma took to social media and claimed there was a new plot which she believed was created to vilify her and her family. Without revealing much, Mngoma said that although the public thought her husband’s leaked video was the last “attack” her family would endure, there was more to come.

She said she was, however, “unshaken” as God would fight this one too.

“I know of a plot to vilify me. The attack on me and my family has been going on for years now and does not seem to relent. My strength intermediates evildoers, there is a new one in the cooking. We are unshaken…Our God is a living God, he will fight this war for us as always. Bring it on Satan.”

‘I’m here for you always… for better for worse’

She again wrote a lengthy social media post appreciating her husband Gigaba, saying his resignation was a blessing in disguise as he now spent more time at home.

She said: “Nothing is so sweeter than having breakfast and dinner with you, watching TV, and sharing jokes with you and our kids. Seeing our kids so happy like this is so priceless. The past eight years you were hardly at home because of your hectic work schedule. Waking up next to you is an indescribable feeling.”

In 2020, Mngoma has changed her tune, now revealing in the interview with eNCA that she was willing to appear before the State Capture Commission to spill the tea.