Gigaba awaits IG findings on sex video leak
Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba maintains he doesn't know who leaked a sexually explicit video allegedly stolen from his cell phone.
Social media has been abuzz after Gigaba released a statement on Twitter, apologising to his family and friends for the potential harm the leaked video might have caused.
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
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...
— Malusi Gigaba (@mgigaba) October 28, 2018
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...
— Malusi Gigaba (@mgigaba) October 28, 2018
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...
— Malusi Gigaba (@mgigaba) October 28, 2018
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
The video was allegedly leaked a year ago, when Gigaba was still the Minister of Finance.
He says his cell phone was hacked.
"Whatever the minister has done, is what he did in the past when this matter first came to his attention. He is not doing anything at this moment, he is going on with his life and his work," says spokesperson Vuyo Mkhize.
While Gigaba says the video has been used to black mail him, Mkhize says he doesn't know who leaked it.
"We don't have a view as to who's behind the distribution of this material. We don't know, all that we know is the information that was presented to the minister, showing that his communication was unlawfully intercepted, and his devices were illegally accessed, that information is with the Inspector General, and the minister is awaiting an update from the IG on the progress of that investigation," adds Mkhize.
Early last year, a Twitter account claiming to belong to Buhle Mkhize, a woman who came out in 2014 as Gigaba's mistress, created a storm on Twitter responding to a TV interview with Gigaba's wife, Norma.
Mkhize threatened the release of a video between herself, Gigaba and his wife.
Gigaba and Mkhize were engufled in a war on Twitter in 2015.
Asked whether Gigaba has seen reports on social media that he should resign, his spokesperson Vuyo Mkhize says this is a personal matter and should not reflect on the ministers official duties.