Zondo commission hears how Guptas funded lifestyle of Gigaba and his sister, father

Gigaba's estranged wife Norma Mngoma appeared at the commission on Friday.

 Her testimony was interrupted on Thursday by a suspected security threat.

 The commission has not provided more details on the incident.

 On Friday, she told the commission that Ajay Gupta helped write off the debt owed by her estranged husbands' sister Nosipho.

 "He told me that his sister who is an optometrist by profession, had a practice in Port Shepstone, but that practice was in debt, and it was closed. His father was telling Malusi to assist the sister to find another job, he said the reason the sister is not employable was that she was blacklisted," she told the commission.

 "I asked him how much he owes and Malusi said she owes R850 000, I was shocked, I asked him where we could get this kind of money, so he said he is going to raise it with Ajay Gupta and he will see what they can do.”

 She said he later informed her that the Guptas agreed to assist but only agreed to give him half of the money. 

Mngoma said he also claimed he would rope in his legal advisor Siyabonga Mahlangu.

 She said later Nozipho moved into their house in Pretoria was getting an R20 000-R30 000 allowance from Gigaba but later she started working at Gupta-owned company Sahara Computers in the marketing department. 

In his statement to the commission, Gigaba has confirmed his sister did indeed work for the Guptas for at least five months, but he said he did not get her that job. 

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KZN home

 Mngoma denied claims by Gigaba that his father extended and renovated his home in KwaZulu-Natal with his own money.

She says it would have been impossible. 

 Mngoma testified previously that Ajay Gupta paid for everything. 

"When the house was built his father was very sick and there was a point where I fetched his father, and he came to stay with us so I can take care of him.

 “His father was later admitted at Milpark hospital, and I was the one driving every day, his medical aid couldn't pay for everything, he did not have that kind of money. Malusi used to pay for his dad and when he was not around, I would pay. So, it's very strange to me that someone who can't pay R2000 can build an entire house.

 "This one is easy for him to prove if he says I am lying. If he says his father was paying his brother-in-law who was building the house, then he can bring the receipts. Most of the time when we went to KZN he would give him cash," 

 Bribery claims

 In his statement to the commission, Gigaba also claims that Mngoma tried to bribe him, stating she would not appear before the commission if he gave her a big divorce settlement and dropped the criminal charges against her. 

 Mngoma has denied this.

"I did not do that, me appearing at the commission had nothing to do with our divorce and it was never at hand. Even if we did the settlement, I was still going to appear before the commission because I need to clarify my arrest and why my gadgets and it's also me doing my duties as a South African citizen.

 "It was never about this, the reason I said one of us must leave the house was because of the tension in the home and it was affecting my older son. I said he can move out to the other house I will stay with the kids, or I take the kids and take the kids, he then said he would speak to his financial advisor and see what he can do. He came back and said the lawyer said because we were married out of community of property if he moves out, he is waiving his rights and I also couldn't leave because I couldn't leave my kids," she added.

 She was also asked about Gigaba's claims that Mngoma told him that she was part of a scheme to destroy him politically.

 "I did not do that; it is a lie that I said to him people on the top six of the ANC who want to destroy them. He is the one who told me someone from the top six leaked a porn video of him. When he resigned, he said to me he was forced to resign he did not do it voluntarily, and that someone in the top six was pushing the President in a meeting to get him to resign," said Mngoma.