Garden wedding for ‘honeybee’ Gigaba
HOME Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba will marry Nomachule Mngoma against a backdrop of natural beauty and tranquillity when the couple tie the knot in a garden wedding this month.
It will be a double celebration for the debonair cabinet minister, who will also mark his 43rd birthday on August 30.
The stylish couple have hired the picturesque Durban Botanic Gardens to host their nuptials.
Cape Town-based designer and events coordinator Gavin Rajah has been commissioned to arrange the event, which is expected to boast a guest list that includes powerful politicians, businessmen and celebrities.
Rajah, who has been tightlipped about the plans, told the Sunday Times this week that the busy couple were still finalising the finer details, which include the menu, décor and the guest list.
It is understood that Mngoma will walk down the aisle in one of Rajah’s creations.
Mngoma, 33, is known for her penchant for French designers, Louis Vuitton in particular.
Like many celebrity couples, they have decided against a gift registry and have instead asked their guests to make a donation to charities of their choice.
Mngoma is known for her penchant for Louis Vuitton
Gigaba’s relationship with Mngoma was made public at his 40th birthday celebrations at an extravagant party at a Sandton hotel in 2011, attended by celebrities including Khanyi Mbau, Sonia Sedibe and Basetsana Kumalo.
Mngoma has often declared her affection for Gigaba on social networking sites, referring to him as her “honeybee” and her “pillar”.
In December last year Gigaba’s family visited Mngoma’s family home in Kokstad, KwaZulu-Natal, where they handed over gifts as part of the lobolo negotiations.
Their simple wedding invitation, which has been e-mailed to guests, reads: “You are invited to witness the holy matrimony of Nomachule Mngoma to Malusi Gigaba.”
It includes a quote from the Bible: “Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate. Mark 10:9.”
In 2010, Gigaba and his former wife, Thabong, divorced. In the same year Gigaba laid a charge of abduction in Port Elizabeth after discovering his 10-year-old daughter had been taken on holiday to East London by his exwife’s cousin. The child was in the care of the cousin while her mother was in Cuba on business. It was reported that Thabong had given her cousin permission to take the child.
Three years ago ANC spokesman Zizi Kodwa married Zama Ngubane at the same venue in a wedding attended by President Jacob Zuma.
The venue, which has hosted some of South Africa’s most glamorous weddings, features kitchen facilities for outside caterers, a bar area and grand old trees around a lake.