Hawks turn tables on Norma Mngoma

There was “nothing untoward” in the arrest of Norma Mngoma‚ wife of former finance minister Malusi Gigaba‚ and no messages were deleted from her electronic devices‚ the Hawks said in court papers on Tuesday.

The Hawks were responding to an urgent application by Mngoma to the Pretoria high court last week to declare her arrest unlawful and to set it aside.

She was arrested in July on charges of malicious damage to property and crimen injuria after allegedly extensively scratching a Mercedes-Benz Gwagon and sending an “insulting” message to a friend of her husband‚ Peterson Siyaya.

The eye-popping WhatsApp message is attached to the court papers. Repeatedly calling Siyaya a dog‚ it accuses Siyaya of sleeping around with older women to get tenders and of influencing Gigaba to sleep around‚ of separating Gigaba from his true friends and family. It says “f ***** all of you nengculaza [with your Aids]”.

In her application‚ Mngoma said the arrest was an orchestrated scheme and a ruse to seize her electronic devices and delete specific information.

But in an affidavit on behalf of the Hawks‚ Capt Kenneth Mavuso said nothing was deleted by the Hawks when her devices were taken.

The court papers also include an affidavit from the National Prosecuting Authority’s December Mthimunye‚ who said that “after perusal and analysing the contents of the two police dockets‚ there is prima facie case for the applicant to answer”. —