IN QUOTES | Gigaba refutes claims by Norma about 'influence' of Guptas, Dudu Myeni and Zuma

Former minister Malusi Gigaba denied being invited to the Gupta residence and being shown stacks of cash as alleged by his estranged wife Nomachule 'Norma' Mngoma at the state capture commission.

He also denied inviting the Guptas to their wedding in 2014 because the relations had “cooled off” and he didn't want to rebuild them. He also responded to Mngoma's comments about a credit card which had a withdrawal limit of R3,000, saying it was for household essentials and to get her medication during her pregnancy.

Gigaba refuted this was a credit card in his previous evidence and said it was a debit card, but Mngoma said this was not true because Gigaba knew there was nothing she could do with R3,000.

On Monday, Gigaba said it was unfortunate that Mngoma claimed there was nothing she could do with R3,000 as this would be a luxury for many households.

Here are seven telling quotes from his testimony: 

Norma has money 

“She has a lot of money and at some stage, she would have asked me to assist her with some allowances, but my understanding was she asked because husbands have got to provide allowances to their wives. It's not that she didn't have the money herself. Even the life she continues to live now is quite extravagant.”

R3,000 is a luxury for many 

“Miss Mngoma is used to an extravagant lifestyle where R3,000 doesn't mean anything. For many households in SA, R3,000 would be a luxury and in this instance, she had her own money and all I did was give her the money to allow her to buy things related to her pregnancy like medicine or some household things she may need.

"If she thought R3,000 was nothing, that is what was in the card as the withdrawal limit.” 

Dudu Myeni's appointment at SAA

“If I said I didn't understand why she was appointed, I would have been referring to myself because I was the minister of public enterprises when she was appointed ... I'm the one who appointed Miss Myeni as the chairperson of the new board, so I couldn't say I didn't understand why she had been appointed.”

Not aware of information Myeni allegedly gave Zuma 

“If I needed to discuss issues with the board of SAA, I either convened the chairperson and CEO of the board to discuss issues with them or I would request special general meetings with the board to raise certain issues, or the department would engage either the board or the executive management of SAA.”

There were no instructions from Myeni or the Guptas 

“Miss Myeni never passed any instructions to me from the president and so, the issue of me being upset by these does not arise. If the president wanted to talk to me as one of his ministers, he would call me directly to talk.”

Gupta naturalisation

“The issue of naturalisation, I found it under way in the department. It did not need me. It was not influenced by me. I found it already under way in the department. So, what was the need for this cash incentive towards my wedding at which they were not invited?”

The white wedding and the Guptas' funding 

“At the white wedding, she was responsible for the payment. If she went to the Guptas to ask for the money, I did not ask her because I took it to be her responsibility. I knew her to have money and it was the responsibility of her family to pay for the wedding. Even the vehicles which I used to arrive at my wedding were government cars, because I did not want to incur any additional expenses.”

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