Women want me, says privacy-seeking Gigaba
HOME Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba does not want his cellphone number to be made public because prospective lovers might hound him and cause trouble between him and his wife.
The twice-married minister is embroiled in a war of words with a KwaZulu-Natal lobby group after it threatened to release his private number to the public.
The group, iNjeje yamaNguni, or United Council of Nguni Youth, is also taking the minister to task for using a derogatory Zulu word, isikhawundane, which refers to a woman with loose sexual morals.
Gigaba used the word during an exchange of text messages between himself and the founder of iNjeje yamaNguni, Phumlani Mfeka, last week.
The group wants to publish Gigaba’s number, along with those of other ministers, politicians and senior government officials, in an attempt to make them accessible to the electorate.
In WhatsApp exchanges between himself and Mfeka, conducted in Zulu, Gigaba expressed fears that the public release of his number would lead to him being harassed by strangers and lovesick women.
“One will end up being called by women [proposing] love . . . even those who do not want to go to the department’s offices will call you,” he said.
“Even women who have long been chasing you not knowing how to reach you [will call you] . . . This will pit us against wives at home because of isikhawundane,” wrote Gigaba.
In another heated exchange with Mfeka, Gigaba threatened legal action if his number was released publicly.
Mfeka’s ethnic-based group promotes Zulu interests and is associated with another group that has called for South African Indians to be excluded from government tenders.
When Mfeka insisted the group was going ahead with its plans, Gigaba retorted that cabinet ministers were not running call centres and their responsibilities did not include answering queries from the public because they had office staff to do that.
“I guess we also have to publish the cell numbers of traditional leaders too,” Gigaba said during the exchange with Mfeka.
Mfeka this week asked President Jacob Zuma to act against Gigaba for having used the word
isikhawundane.
“A person of Gigaba’s posture and standing cannot willy-nilly use such words because they seek to undermine and look down on women regardless of their social lives. Gigaba must withdraw his use of the word and must apologise to women,” said Mfeka.
Gigaba’s spokesman, Mayihlome Tshwete, downplayed the minister’s use of the word, saying it could mean different things depending on the context.
“This was during a private conversation and it was a one-on-one, light-hearted talk between the minister and that particular individual.”
This week iNjeje yamaNguni released the first batch of cellphone numbers of public servants and political leaders on Facebook and announced plans to print copies of the list for display in public areas.