Do the country a favour and please resign, Mr Gigaba
Home Affairs minister Malusi Gigaba has dominated the news over the past few days, not least because of the leaked sexually explicit self-recorded video which has been making the rounds on social media. The embarrassing episode has strengthened calls for Gigaba to be sacked from President Cyril Ramaphosa’s cabinet. However, the so-called sex tape is not the reason why the minister should resign or be fired by Ramaphosa. While some expect politicians to behave in a manner “befitting” the public office they hold, they have proven, over time, to lack scruples.
In fact, Gigaba should have been fired last year after the damning judgment by the South Gauteng High Court in the Fireblade Aviation matter. The judge found that Gigaba had “deliberately told untruths under oath”. This relates to the minister’s denial of having granted Fireblade, owned by the powerful Oppenheimer family, the right to operate a private aircraft travel, customs and immigration service servicing wealthy travellers.
Gigaba denied this despite the availability of documentary proof. The Fireblade ruling was confirmed by the Supreme Court of Appeals which dismissed Gigaba’s attempt to appeal the high court ruling. On Wednesday, public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane called on Ramaphosa to take action against Gigaba for violating the Constitution.
Mkhwebane’s report was based on a complaint by the DA – following the judgment on the Fireblade matter – that Gigaba had violated the constitution and the Executive Ethics Code for lying under oath. Given that the public protector’s findings are legally binding, this clears the way for Ramaphosa to fire Gigaba without fearing political reprisals. Gigaba has effectively fired himself. He has already been implicated in the controversial decision to fast-track the naturalisation of the Gupta family’s citizenship. His fall from grace is yet another tale depicting the destructive effects of the Guptas to our body politic. Nhlanhla Nene resigned as finance minister for simply not being upfront about having previously met the Guptas.
His was a lesser crime than Gigaba’s. This is effectively the end of the road for Gigaba. To avoid embarrassing himself any further, Gigaba should do the right thing and resign.
This is the end of the road for Gigaba. To avoid humiliating himself further, he should resign