Mkhwebane Says Gigaba Did Not Abuse Power but Did Breach Ethics Code
- Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane has cleared former minister Malusi Gigaba by saying he did not abuse his power
- The decision was referring to Gigaba granting early naturalisation to his alleged friend Ajay Gupta and other members of the extended Gupta family
- Mkhwebane did find Gigaba in breach of the Executive Ethics Code by failing to submit their names before Parliament to grant their rights under exceptional circumstances
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Busisiwe Mkhwebane, the Public Protector, has cleared former minister Malusi Gigaba and declared that he did not abuse his power.
The incident in question refers to the granting of naturalisation rights to Gigaba's alleged acquaintance Ajay Gupta and other members of the infamous family.
Gigaba approved the early naturalisation of Ajay and his family on 30 May, 2015 without tabling their names before Parliament.
Source: Getty Images
This did lead to Mkhwebane stating that, despite Gigaba not abusing his powers, he did violate the Executive Ethics Code.
Mkhwebane was quoted byTimesLive as saying:
“The allegation that former minister Malusi Knowledge Gigaba abused his powers afforded in terms of the SA Citizenship Amendment Act when granting certificates of early naturalisation to his alleged acquaintances, Mr Ajay Gupta and family, without proper validation of the requisite exceptional circumstances, is unsubstantiated.”
She continued by explaining that there were "material misrepresentations and inaccuracies with the information contained in the motivation" that was relied upon by the former minister when he was granting the certificates of naturalisation to Ajay Gupta and his family.
Previously, Malusi Gigaba has hit back at his ex-wife estranged wife, Norma Mngoma, saying her claims that he received a stash of cash from the Guptas are “nonsense”. In a short exclusive interview with Briefly.co.za, Gigaba took a jab at Norma, saying he would not tolerate her unfounded claims.
“If someone accuses you of something they must go to the police instead of going to the media. Her intentions are pretty obvious for all to see,” said Gigaba.
Norma alleged during her televised interview with eNCA that Gigaba, while he was still public enterprises minister, regularly received stashes of cash from the controversial Gupta family. She said they used to visit the Saxonwold Gupta compound and leave with "a lot" of money.
Reacting to this, Gigaba, who is no longer serving in government, said his time to clear his name would come.
“Like I say if she has evidence of this she must approach the law enforcement authorities instead of going to the media. To be honest, I’m unshaken,” he said.
Gigaba said he would not engage in a public spat with Norma, who confirmed during the interview, that their divorce process is ongoing.
Gigaba added, “Engaging her in public will have undesired consequences for both of us. So, I’m not going to tolerate her for now.”
Gigaba tied the knot with Norma in a glittering ceremony in 2014. Six years later in 2020, Norma said she no longer wants to be part of the marriage.
Gigaba would not be drawn into commenting about the other claims that were made by Norma, saying his time would come to tell his side of the story.
Earlier, Briefly.co.za reported that the former minister Malusi Gigaba allegedly used to leave the Gupta's Saxonwold stronghold with bags full of cash. His ex-wife, Norma Mngoma, has apparently decided to blow the lid on their relationship after agreeing to an exclusive interview with eNCA.
Mngoma detailed how her estranged husband would return from the Guptas with 'a lot' of money, explaining that she often didn't understand what Gigaba would do in exchange for the funds.
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Source: Briefly News
