Mike Siluma

Louis Vuitton and the whistleblower

Ahead of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s appearance before deputy chief justice Raymond Zondo this week, the commission played host to a different, if more colourful, witness. In the high-stakes political environment of the state capture commission, Norma Mngoma, the estranged wife of former cabinet minister Malusi Gigaba, might at first have seemed out of place.

Until her eNCA interview, which first piqued the commission’s interest in what she had to say, Mngoma was known more as something of a fashionista and social media celebrity, whose high life was an open book on Instagram. And, oh, she was known as well to be the wife of the man once touted as an ANC crown prince, a cadre destined to some day occupy Mahlamba Ndlopfu.

But this week, as she made her cameo appearance before Zondo, Mngoma had the nation on tenterhooks. Would she suffer cold feet at the last minute and refuse to play ball? Or would she drop the bombshell that would put paid to Gigaba’s political life, perhaps even paving his way to a prison cell?

In the witness chair, Mngoma momentarily wielded more power, and commanded more attention, than she’s done at any point in her very dramatic public life.

Her evidence ranged from visits to the Guptas to SOE boardroom battles, a new BMW and a gold chain for gifts, as well as the movement of cash — lots of it.

Yet, despite the importance of her evidence, she was, in fact, an unlikely witness, drawn into the state capture saga by the mere fact of being the wife of a once immensely powerful politician.

Fortuitous too, because, like many women who live in the shadow of famous or powerful men, she was presumably to be seen but not heard. Perhaps, addicted to the good life, she was trusted to not spoil it all by revealing the source of the largesse her family was blessed with. Or divulge what she saw and heard as her spouse’s plus one at the Guptas’ residence, or at their now infamous Sun City family wedding.

By her own account before Zondo, Mngoma saw and heard much. And on her night at the commission, she seemed keen to dispel any thoughts of being a malleable trophy wife with no agency.

Led by advocate Anton Myburgh, she took us to the Guptas’ Johannesburg family compound, which she and Gigaba visited several times, and where phones had to be left in the foyer due to the confidentiality of discussions. She then trotted out the names of a string of other Gupta guests she saw. Sometimes the visits would be to introduce the Gigaba infants to the hosts. With one child being given a gold chain for a present.

Next, she let us into the home she shared with Gigaba. We learnt that the house has a safe large enough for her husband to stash, in her words, a shocking amount of cash from the Guptas. And in case we wondered, she revealed that her husband’s fondness for bags was not about fashion, but for transporting the said cash.

For Zondo, also of particular interest would have been Mngoma’s claim that, while in the cabinet, Gigaba received “briefings” from Ajay Gupta. She also told of the boardroom wars for control of Eskom, SAA and Transnet.

And contrary to her husband’s public image of a selfassured, independent politician, Mngoma painted a picture of a man who was the prey, rather than the spider, in the Gupta looting web.

While minister of public enterprises, she revealed, her husband lived with the fear of being sent back to home affairs for defying the instructions of the Guptas and Dudu Myeni. Apparently home affairs, an important state department underpinning our very sovereignty, was seen as a sort of naughty corner in those circles.

Though her appearance at the commission assumed political import in the moment, Mngoma was evidently unfamiliar with judicial formalities or etiquette. To her, Gigaba was just “Malusi”. Other featured characters were simply Brian (Dames), Siyabonga (Mahlangu) and Ajay.

When asked to speak up, she said it was “because you guys exhausted me … I’m so tired”. At another point she was rocking side to side in her chair. Powerful because of what she had to say, but somewhat out of her depth with the occasion’s conventions.

Outside the commission the attention inevitably turned to Mngoma’s motives for volunteering to appear before Zondo in the first place. Predictably, the chatter was that being in the throes of a divorce, she was simply a woman scorned.

Therefore, with an axe to grind, Zondo had to take her evidence with a great deal of salt. Besides, as her husband sought to argue, she should not give evidence against the man she was still married to.

But if she was driven by a burning desire for revenge, she hid it well on the night. No sign of the mad black woman (with apologies to Tyler Perry). In fact, she said, she was appearing for the benefit of her husband. So that, “where [Gigaba] doesn’t recall anything, then I will say what I know”.

The irony. After all, her participation was hardly a gentle, quiet whisper into the ear of a beloved but forgetful spouse. It was more akin to sticking the knife in and slowly twisting it.

In reality, her evidence laid bare the workings of state capture as it involved Gigaba. These are details which Gigaba would rather had remained beyond corroboration, and out of the public domain. The effect was to leave him squirming, and open to judicial censure by Zondo, casting over him a political, and possibly criminal, cloud. That achieved, Mngoma would no doubt have earned the admiration of many women with vengeful thoughts against errant or abusive partners.

Perhaps therein also lies an elementary lesson for all men. It is that the woman at your side, even if she is not as powerful as you are, or seems mostly inattentive, ought to be taken more seriously than a mere accessory — and be treated with respect. For they may know more about you and your business than you realise.

It was hardly a gentle whisper into the ear of a beloved but forgetful spouse. It was more akin to sticking the knife in