Gigaba will not speak out against his estranged wife Norma Mngoma

Former home affairs minister Malusi Gigaba will not be talking against his estranged wife Norma Mngoma.

Gigaba was responding to the Pretoria High Court’s ruling on Thursday that found Mngoma’s arrest in July 2020 was unlawful and an abuse of power by the Hawks in an attempt to intimidate her.

Mngoma was arrested after allegedly causing extensive damage to a multimillion-rand Mercedes-Benz driven by her estranged husband.

Mngoma is facing charges of malicious damage to property and crimen injuria. While facing the charges, Mngoma approached the high court to challenge her arrest by the Hawks.

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

Following the ruling last week, Gigaba said he would not be responding. The two are in the process of getting a divorce.

“I’m quiet because, way after our divorce, my wife will still remain the mother of our two boys. And, besides, I was never a party to the case which gave rise to this finding against me [it’s akin to a judge convicting someone who was never charged and never appeared before him],” he said.

This despite reports at the time claiming the complainants in her case were her husband and “another person”.

Justifying her arrest at the time, then Hawks spokesperson Hangwani Mulaudzi told the SABC: “There were matters that transpired this week which necessitated us to go straight to the magistrate’s court to ask for a warrant of arrest based on the severity of the case and the charges that were laid. The complaint has been with us for some time, we are still busy working on those allegations.”

Mngoma has since dropped her husband’s surname and revealed in an interview with eNCA that she was willing to appear before the Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture to testify about what she had seen during her marriage to Gigaba.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.