Powerful Malusi Gigaba pulls strings to stop wife Norma from testifying at state capture commission

Powerful Malusi Gigaba pulls strings to stop wife Norma from testifying at state capture commission

Powerful Malusi Gigaba pulls strings to stop wife Norma from testifying at state capture commission

Former Minister Malusi Gigaba has applied to Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo to keep Mngoma’s affidavit confidential or to hold her hearing in private.

Former Minister Malusi Gigaba does not want his estranged wife, Norma Mngoma, to testify at the state capture commission.

He has applied to Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo to keep Mngoma’s affidavit confidential or to hold her hearing in private.

Gigaba’s application is not the first attempt at suppression after State Security Minister Ayanda Dlodlo tried to stop acting Director-General Loyiso Jafta from testifying, but she failed in that instance.

It’s now up to the chairperson to decide if Gigaba’s grounds meet the test for confidentiality.

The commission makes provision for hearings in camera, but at the request of a witness and not an implicated person, and in those cases the identities of witnesses were not disclosed.

But even some witnesses whose identities were protected testified in public.

However, persons are allowed to request protection of documents that are commercially sensitive or that include personal information.

Such an application must state what portions of a document were claimed to be confidential and why those portions should not be publicly disclosed.

If the commission decided that the document was confidential, it would not be included or it would be redacted to protect the specified confidentiality.

But if the document was determined not to be confidential, it would be referred to at public hearings.

Gigaba can take comfort in that the commission allows applications that are not provided for in its rules but all determinations are made at the discretion of Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo.

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