Nomachule Gigaba made it clear that she would rather not have testified at the State Capture Commission. With her estranged husband Malusi’s failure to have her affidavit declared inadmissible, Nomachule was forced to take the stand.
She revealed that Malusi referred to the Guptas as his “unofficial” advisors when he was Minister of Public Enterprises. He also received cash and various gifts and benefits from the family, including a BMW and R4.5 million for their wedding and honeymoon in 2014.
In an attempt to have Nomachule’s affidavit be found inadmissible, Gigaba’s lawyers had cited marital privilege as a reason why communications between the two should not be aired in public as well as the acrimonious nature of the couple’s on-going divorce proceedings.
Malusi Gigaba’s lawyer Richard Solomons, argued, “Communications that took place between Mr and Mrs Gigaba within the marital privilege context should not be aired in public. Secondly, we say because the acrimonious nature of the divorce proceedings, there is an inherent risk in the evidence and the veracity of the evidence that she will give and that will impact upon questions of credibility.”
State Capture Inquiry I Malusi Gigaba’s application to cross-examine his estranged wife:
Zondo also dismissed Malusi Gigaba’s bid to have proceedings in camera saying he would hear his application to cross–examine her at a later stage.
So, it was a very reluctant Nomachule who took the stand on Monday evening.
Her lawyer Mpati Qofa read a letter she had addressed to Zondo.
“That is the first part to say ‘I am unhappy with aspects of my affidavit for the reasons I have already announced’ and then she goes further to say that ‘I come here with absolute respect for the commission and a civic duty I take very seriously.’ And she says, ‘that being the case, I am married to Mr Gigaba still.’”
She testified that a couple of months before Malusi became Public Enterprises Minister in October 2010, he told her that he had been told by Ajay Gupta he would get the position.
Responding to State Commission Evidence Leader Anton Myburgh, Nomachule says the frequency of his visits to the Gupta family’s Saxonwold home subsequently increased and he referred to the brothers as his “unofficial” advisors.
“He would differentiate them from the advisors that he had from the DPE, which I knew – his legal advisor and Thami Msomi as well.”
Asked by Myburg, “Did he tell you who these unofficial advisors were,” Nomachule responded, “Yes, he told me.”
Myburg further asked, “What did he say” to which Nomachule responded, he had responded, “It was the Guptas. Ajay and his brothers which I don’t know all by name. I am only familiar with Ajay more than the other ones.”
Nomachule said that Malusi Gigaba had told her that the Gupta brother had advised him “about work, about things that they were supposed to do.”
She says she was told by her husband that the Guptas did not like then-Eskom-CEO Brian Dames and wanted him replaced. She says this was just one of a number of appointments that Malusi was told to make.
“He told me that the Guptas did not like him and he did not understand why they did not like him and I think they told him there would be a new restructuring … someone else will move to Eskom, then Brian Dames will leave and I did not know how the process would happen. A few months later it happened.”
Nomachule says Malusi received cash, various gifts and benefits from the Guptas over the years including a BMW and millions of rands to pay for the couple’s 2014 wedding and honeymoon. She testified to seeing Malusi collecting bags of cash from the Gupta residence on a number of occasions, echoing the testimony of one of Malusi’s bodyguard in testimony to the commission.
State Capture Inquiry | Commission hears evidence from Nomachule Gigaba:
