Minister faces R1.7m claim for 'affair'

A CABINET minister has been slapped with a R1.7-million letter of demand by an aggrieved civil servant - for allegedly wrecking his marriage.

The Sunday Times's sister newspaper, Sunday World, today reports that Minister of Public Enterprises Malusi Gigaba is the latest minister to be caught up in a messy extramarital affair controversy.

This comes just weeks after revelations that Minister of Sport Fikile Mbalula was being squeezed for "reparations" by a woman with whom he had a one-night stand in August.

According to Sunday World, Luka Sandhlane demanded the money from Gigaba after the minister, allegedly via his spokesman, Makhosini Nkosi, admitted to the affair and apologised for his indiscretion.

The minister allegedly had the affair with Sandhlane's estranged wife, Gugu Nkosi .

The minister's spokesman, Makhosini Nkosi, said his "private life is not public life, and we will not confirm or deny a matter in which private individuals are involved, with no public interest at stake".

But Sunday World said Gigaba had accepted responsibility for his actions and had since apologised for his "improper sexual conduct" to Sandhlane.

Gigaba apparently also admitted to his girlfriend, Noma Mngoma, that he'd been secretly dating Nkosi while he was doing ANC work in Mpumalanga.

The newspaper said it had established that Gigaba, in an attempt at damage control, had dispatched Nkosi to negotiate with Sandhlane in a bid to reach an amicable solution.

"Makhosini apologised on behalf of Malusi before Sandhlane could confront him," a source told the paper.

"We are told that the shattered hubby accepted the apology before he entered into negotiations with Nkosi."

Friends of the couple told the newspaper that Sandhlane was shattered when he discovered that Gigaba was seeing his wife behind his back and felt "betrayed" by Gigaba, whom he considered a friend and comrade. Sandhlane allegedly discovered the affair after seeing SMSes.

Gugu declined to comment when contacted by the Sunday Times yesterday.

Sandhlane also refused to comment, but responded to the newspaper via SMS, saying: "I will appreciate if we can let the court deal with whatever matter, for the sake of my kids, parents and family."

When the Sunday Times asked him for comment, he said he was in a "sensitive meeting" and would call back. He later sent an SMS, saying, "Thanks for the call. This is a private matter and I will appreciate if it can be handled as such."

Three years ago, Gigaba was reprimanded for spending more than R1000 of taxpayers' money on flowers for his former wife, Thabong.