Gigaba’s hacking and leaked video being investigated by Inspector-general

The Inspector-General of Intelligence is reportedly probing the alleged hacking of Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba’s cellphone.

News24 reports that the legal advisor in the office of the inspector-general of intelligence, advocate Jay Govender confirmed that Gigaba laid a complaint about the hacking on May 4 this year.

A video of Gigaba fondling his phallus has been doing the rounds on social media and the minister has since said that he is the target of extortion attempts after the private sex video was stolen following a hacking incident.

Gigaba said that he had reported the case to law enforcement and intelligence agencies, with his spokesperson Vuyo Mkhize reportedly saying the minister had alerted the department of state security when he was being extorted.

Gigaba took to Twitter on Sunday to reveal that a leaked sex recording of him has been used in blackmail and extortion attempts against him.

He said the recording must have been stolen in a phone hack from 2016 or 2017, and the contents were meant to be private.

In a series of tweets, Gigaba apologised for the incident, and he reportedly said the video had been meant for his wife, Noma.

Gigaba’s spokesperson, Mkhize, was quoted as saying that those alleged to be behind the hacking and extortion attempts at first wanted the minister to pay them money and that when that failed they sought to have him use his position to facilitate business opportunities.

Gigaba reportedly knows the identities of the alleged blackmailers.

Mkhize has since tweeted that the “video was leaked by an opposition leader who obtained it from an MP of his party from uMzimkhulu who, in turn, obtained it from a guy who was previously implicated in the failed attempt to blackmail the minister… all social media rumours to the contrary are false”.

Gigaba also tweeted: “Of course, knowing who did it, and why, will not erase the pain but it may just help save many others from the same fate.”

(Compiled by Makhosandile Zulu)

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