AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER
FORMER Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba has concluded his evidence before the state capture commission with more claims that his estranged wife Nomachule had lied to the commission.
Gigaba today told commission chair, Deputy Judge President Raymond Zondo that Nomachule had lied to him when she told him that she had a wealthy father who passed away in New York and left her a huge inheritance.
Gigaba said he found out that the person was her former fiancee living in South Africa but had left her wealth when he died in 2010.
Gigaba told the commission that Nomachule lied when she said:
- He received the gift of a white BMW from the Gupta family. Gigaba said it was given to him by the ANC Youth League.
- He paid for the renovations to his sister’s house with money from the Guptas. He said he paid with his own money.
- He gave her his credit card. The former minister said he did not have a credit card.
- He kept bags of money from the Guptas in the boot of his car. He said he never received cash from the Guptas. “There was no such money,” he said, suggesting that Nomachule or one of the bodyguards may have placed it there.
- The couple received a cash gift from the Guptas towards the wedding and paid for their Dubai honeymoon. Gigaba said there was no cash donation.
- The couple went to Sandton, Johannesburg, every Sunday for lunch. He said it was untrue.
- Gigaba told her he was handling the Gupta family application for naturalisation. “You’re dealing with a liar,” he told Deputy Judge President Zondo.
Gigaba said when the couple got married, he asked for an antenuptial contract and as a result, he did not want to be seen to be worrying about his wife’s wealth. “I believe then and I believe now that she has a lot of money,” he said.
The former minister said he believed his estranged wife was coached to implicate him at the Zondo commission. The couple are in the middle of a divorce.
