Gigaba to institute legal action against Redi Tlhabi

The Minister of Home Affairs Malusi Gigaba has instructed attorneys to institute legal action against veteran broadcaster Redi Tlhabi for defamation of character.

This is according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs on Thursday.

The Home Affairs ministry has announced that Minister Gigaba has instructed lawyers to institute legal action against Redi for defamation. pic.twitter.com/fHZfW18z4S

— Scapegoat (@AndiMakinana) September 27, 2018

The statement comes after Gigaba and Tlhabi butted heads on Twitter this week, leading to the minister daring the broadcaster to apologise for the “lies” she tweeted or face a “hefty damages claim”.

Tlhabi had tweeted that Gigaba changed South Africa’s visa regulations because of his alleged interest in blocking his ex-wife from travelling abroad with their child after their divorce.

In a series of tweets, Tlhabi accused Gigaba of implementing “brainless” visa regulations.

“Minister, when are we going to have the real conversation? When are you going to be honest with the nation and tell us why you were adamant that your brainless visa regulations for travelling with minors were personal? That we all had to tow the line because you had a domestic issue?

“Is it not true that you were livid when a cousin of your ex-wife travelled with your daughter Lerato, whilst your wife was in Cuba? Upon finding out, you laid charges of kidnapping even though you knew your ex-wife’s cousin very well and your daughter was quite happy with her?

“You had a personal issue of your ex-wife making travel arrangements with [your] daughter without your consent, so you decided ‘I’ll sort this problem out’? You implemented untested regulations, claiming to address child trafficking? Have your regulations brought child trafficking down?”

Gigaba fought back, saying that he was still the minister of public enterprises when the regulations on travelling with children from South Africa were adopted.

“For the record, @RediTlhabi, I’m not bothered by your using my name to ingratiate yourself to the band of uninformed incorrigible racists you’ve made a career out of sucking up to. Victimise my daughter again, though, and you’ll discover that I’m capable of sinking to your level,” he said.

Gigaba then gave Tlhabi until 5pm on Thursday to apologise or face a damages claim.

A copy of the proclamation approving the regulations @RediTlhabi saw fit to despicably drag my daughter into. She has until 17h00, tomorrow, to withdraw and apologise for her malicious lies, failing which she will have to start raising money for a hefty damages claim. pic.twitter.com/WiSml63GnS

— Malusi Gigaba (@mgigaba) September 26, 2018

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