Alleged sex video could taint Gigaba's reputation: analyst
An analyst says the leak of a personal sex video, taken from Malusi Gigaba's phone, brings to the surface a deep-seated political problem.
"One needs to also bare in mind the very toxic and contested context within the ANC , and the ANC. This is likely to be used as very valuable political ammunition for those who want to get at Malusi Gigaba," political analyst Imraan Buccus said.
Gigaba tweeted that the video, which was meant for him and his wife but is now circulating on social media, has been shared between political figures.
He says the clip was accessed when his phone was hacked and adds that the video's been at the centre of a number of blackmail and extortion attempts following his appointment as Finance Minister last year.
Gigaba says he's reported the matter. Political analyst Imraan Buccus feels it could affect the Home Affairs Minister's career.
"It is going to have quite a serious impact on him and his reputation and largely, the embarrassment it's going to bring him, his family and his colleagues," he said.
My wife and I have learned, with regret and sadness, that a video containing material of a sexual nature, meant for our eyes only, which was stolen when my communication got illegally intercepted/my phone got hacked, in 2016/17, is circulating among certain political figures...
— Malusi Gigaba (@mgigaba) October 28, 2018
I take this opportunity to publicly apologise, in advance, to the rest of my family - especially my kids, my mom and my in-laws - and the South African public for the pain and embarrassment the likely wider distribution of this private material will cause...
— Malusi Gigaba (@mgigaba) October 28, 2018
I hope our nation will, someday, constructively engage with the question of whether it is correct to condone and promote the gross invasion of the privacy of others by distributing such material, more especially in the clear absence of a public interest justification...
— Malusi Gigaba (@mgigaba) October 28, 2018