Malusi Gigaba

The Honourable
Malusi Gigaba
MP
Minister of Home Affairs
Assumed office
27 February 2018
President Cyril Ramaphosa
Preceded by Ayanda Dlodlo
In office
25 May 2014 – 31 March 2017
President Jacob Zuma
Preceded by Naledi Pandor
Succeeded by Hlengiwe Mkhize
Minister of Finance
In office
31 March 2017 – 27 February 2018
President Jacob Zuma
Cyril Ramaphosa
Preceded by Pravin Gordhan
Succeeded by Nhlanhla Nene
Minister of Public Enterprises
In office
10 May 2009 – 25 May 2014
President Jacob Zuma
Preceded by Brigitte Mabandla
Succeeded by Lynne Brown
Personal details
Born (1971-08-30) 30 August 1971
Eshowe, KwaZulu Natal
Political party Communist Party (Before 1990)
African National Congress (1990–present)
Alma mater University of Durban-Westville
University of KwaZulu-Natal

Knowledge Malusi Nkanyezi Gigaba MP (born 30 August 1971) is the Minister of Home Affairs of The Republic of South Africa since 27 February 2018, Gigaba previously served as the Minister of Finance, Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Public Enterprises in the government of South Africa.[1] First elected to the National Assembly of South Africa in 1999 as part of the African National Congress, he resigned in 2001 but was re-elected in 2004.

Early life

Gigaba is the second born to Reverend Jabulani Gigaba and Nomthandazo Gigaba. He has three sisters and a brother. Gigaba did his primary school education at Mathonsi Primary School in Mandeni around 1983. He then proceeded to do his high school education at Vryheid State High School in 1988.[2]

Early political career

During this period Gigaba became involved in various student and youth organisations such as Congress of South African Students (COSAS), the South African Youth Congress (SAYCO), the South African Student Congress (SASCO) and Young Christian Students (YCS). Some of these organisations such as COSAS and SASCO were aligned to the banned African National Congress (ANC). It was his involvement in these organisations that laid the foundation for his activities in the ANC Youth League. Gigaba has also been active in youth organizations, and was elected president of the African National Congress Youth League three times in a row (1996, 1998, 2001).

When the ANC, Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), South African Communist Party (SACP) and other liberation movements were unbanned in 1990, he joined the African National Congress Youth League, SACP and the ANC. That same year he completed his Bachelor of Pedagogics at UDW, but continued pursuing a postgraduate degree. Gigaba became one of the founding members of the Education Students Society University of Durban-Westville in 1992. The following year (1993) he was elected as chairman of SASCO at the University Durban-Westville (UDW).

Later political career

In 2004 he was re-elected to Parliament where he became Deputy Minister of Home Affairs until October 2010. He was involved in a new visa system allowing easier legal flow of migration between South Africa and Zimbabwe. This and positive changes made in the department have won him praise from human rights organization PASSOP and from Adbell Musati, whose Zimbabwean twin brother starved outside of the South African home affairs offices. On 1 November 2010, he became the Minister of Public Enterprises of the Republic of South Africa. In 2011, Gigaba lashed out at the ANCYL leadership, labelling them as "anarchists" when they called for the nationalisation of the country’s resources. Since his appointment as Minister of Public Enterprises, he has become a leading figure in the South African government. He is responsible for the a significant aspect of the government's massive infrastructure investment programme through the State Owned Companies that are led by him such as Transnet and Eskom.[3] On 25 May 2014, President Jacob Zuma appointed Gigaba as Minister of Home Affairs.

Gigaba waived the basic residential requirement when granting South African citizenship to the Gupta family, and it was alleged that this move was irregular or at least unprecedented.[4] No wrongdoing was proven however, but efforts by parliamentary committees to get clarity on the Guptas' naturalization process were frustrated by Gigaba's lack of appearances.[5]

On 31 March 2017, Gigaba was appointed Minister of Finance, replacing Pravin Gordhan, raising suspicions that he was deployed by Zuma to assist him in developing his allegedly corrupt relationship with the Guptas. On 27 February 2018, Gigaba was removed from his position as the Minister of Finance and replaced by Nhlanhla Nene. On the same day Gigaba was appointed as Minister of Home Affairs by President Cyril Ramaphosa following the announcement of his new cabinet, replacing Ayanda Dlodlo.

Controversy

Dubai Bank Account

State security agents once investigated a mysterious offshore bank account opened in Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba's name. The account was opened in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, when Gigaba was still public enterprises minister.[6]

Gigaba apparently told state security agents that the account was opened by one of his officials without his knowledge. But banking and security insiders have indicated that it is difficult, if not impossible, for anyone to open an offshore account using a person’s name without their knowledge, and that this could amount to fraud. His spokesperson denied any connection with the account or knowledge of the investigation.[7]

Visa regulations

At home affairs his reputation took a blow when he implemented arduous rules for those travelling with children, creating concerns around South Africa's tourism industry.[8]

Prior to the announcement of the visa regulations, tourist arrivals into South Africa had been steadily growing. 2011 = 2,176,719 arrivals 2012 = 2,505,763 arrivals (15,1% growth) 2013 = 2,660,631 arrivals (6,1% growth) but this changed abruptly in the third quarter of 2014 – the in-person visa application requirement came into effect in June 2014. Since then, there has been a systematic decline in tourist arrivals.

From Sep – Dec 2014, Brazil was down -37%, China -46.9% and India -14.4%, continuing into 2015. The June 2015 arrivals data from Statistics SA showed overseas arrivals down -13% . At the same time competitors were up. According to SA Tourism R7.51bn of revenue has been lost to the country.[9]

Fireblade Aviation

In a judgment relating to the Fireblade Aviation case on 27 October 2017, the North Gauteng High Court found that Gigaba had lied under oath during his tenure as Minister of Home Affairs.[10] The judge lashed out at Gigaba, calling his arguments "disingenuous, spurious and fundamentally flawed, laboured and meritless, bad in law, astonishing, palpably untrue, untenable and not sustained by objective evidence, uncreditworthy and nonsensical".[11] An urgent appeal by Gigaba was heard in December. The presiding officer, Judge Tuchten, concluded that "the Minister has committed a breach of the Constitution so serious that I could characterize it as a violation".[12][13] Gigaba then approached the Supreme Court of Appeal and the Constitutional Court concurrently. The Constitutional Court dismissed the application with costs, saying it was not in the interests of justice to hear the matter at that stage because the Supreme Court of Appeal had to rule on the matter first.[14] The Supreme Court of Appeal on 28 March 2018 dismissed Gigaba’s application for leave to appeal against the judgment, saying there was no reasonable prospect of success. Judge Malcolm Wallis said in his judgment that “there is nothing to suggest that the issues raised by the minister are of such a nature as to warrant the grant of leave to appeal notwithstanding the lack of prospects of success”. The application was dismissed with costs.[15] Gigaba had indicated that he would appeal however the deadline for the appeal to be filed expired on Thursday 14 June 2018, and the court isn’t obliged to grant an extension.[16]

State capture

The pivotal point in the state capture project was the appointment of Malusi Gigaba as Minister of Public Enterprises who, exploiting the loophole in the Public Finance Management Act that made it possible to use the procurement procedures of SOEs to benefit selected contractors who had been sanctioned by the Gupta network, initiated the “repurposing” of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) as vehicles for looting.[17]

Transnet

This included appointing Iqbal Sharma, an Essa and Gupta friend, to the Transnet board and Brian Molefe, now a known Gupta intimate, as Transnet chief executive in 2011.

Gigaba reportedly wanted to elevate Sharma to board chair, but this was shot down by his Cabinet colleagues. Sharma was then made chair of the board acquisitions and disposals committee, a new structure to oversee large procurement.

A third important Transnet appointment came in July 2012: that of Anoj Singh as chief financial officer. The procurement function resorted under him.[18] That same month, July 2012, Transnet issued its tender for 1,064 freight locomotives; 599 electric and the rest diesel.[19] This included R25-billion in tenders that were signed off by Molefe and awarded to CSR (China South Rail).

CSR in turn paid Tequesta Group Ltd, a Gupta-linked shell company, R5.3 billion in 'consultancy fees'.[20] These amounts alone elevate the fees beyond consultancy to where only one explanation is possible, namely that these were the proceeds of corruption. This interpretation is bolstered by the overt fact that key decision makers at Transnet, including those directly involved in its procurement function, were Gupta associates.[21]

Eskom

When Gigaba came in as the Public Enterprises Minister in 2009 'Eskom had R19.6bn in cash, absolutely no reason to worry about liquidity. When he left in 2014, Eskom was begging for money.'[22]

One of his first moves was to overturn a procurement decision on which the Eskom executive and board had signed off — the replacement of Koeberg steam generators. Soon after, he gutted the board and agreed to new appointments, most of whom had no corporate or electricity sector experience, packing it with Gupta business associates, their relatives or their wives. These include former Oakbay director Mark Pamensky, Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane’s adviser Kuben Moodley, and Nazia Carrim, the wife of a relative of close Gupta associate Salim Essa.With the governance of Eskom thus captured and repurposed, the next period witnessed the scaling up of grand corruption, with the Guptas managing the complex enterprise of brokering and money laundering.[23]

The most bold-faced examples include Eskom’s facilitating and financing of the Guptas’ acquisition of Glencore’s Optimum Coal Holdings. This scheme had already started under Gigaba, when coal miner Glencore was driven into "business rescue". But it was then Eskom CE Molefe, partnering with Singh, Koko and mines minister Mosebenzi Zwane, who made the heist possible.

While Glencore was shaken down, the Guptas’ Tegeta benefited from an Eskom guarantee (R1.6bn), a hefty and unusual prepayment (R600m) and additional lucrative coal contracts, effectively enabling them to buy Optimum. Further instances of Gupta-favoured coal contracts and the squeezing out of large coal miners was expected to be revealed in Parliament’s inquiry.[24]

SAA

In 2012 Gigaba delayed support for a turnaround strategy for SAA put forward by then board chair Cheryl Carolus, causing financial damage to the airline.

After Carolus resigned, Gigaba brought back Vuyisile Kona as both acting CEO and board chair after a meeting at the Guptas’ Saxonwold house with Rajesh Gupta, Duduzane Zuma, and Ace Magashule’s son Tshepiso.[25]

During 2017, South African Airways was bailed out to the tune of R5-billion, including a portion of R3-billion that was meant to settle SAA’s debt with Citibank. Another R5-billion payment to SAA was due at the end of March 2018, a month after Gigaba announced VAT increase.

The reason for these costly failures in SoEs is poor corporate governance, whose seeds sprouted when Minister Gigaba was at the helm of the Department of Public Enterprises. Poor understanding of government’s oversight role as a shareholder, lack of strategic perspective, and absence of a developmental mindset are other factors that undermine effective governance of SoEs.[26]

Education

He earned a bachelor's degree in education from the University of Durban-Westville (now part of the University of KwaZulu-Natal) in 1991, and a Masters degree in Social Policy.

Gigaba has been touted for election to be one of the top six national office bearers of South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC), at its 53rd National Conference in December 2012. Some of the ANC branches have raised his name for the position of the Deputy President, National Chairperson and Deputy Secretary General.[27]

Personal life

Gigaba's former mistress Buhle Mkhize and his wife Norma Gigaba have engaged in several spats on social media,[28][29] eventually leading to confirmation of the affair.[30][31]

References

  1. ↑ "MINISTER OF PUBLIC ENTERPRISES: NO PRIVATISING". Railways Africa. 28 February 2011. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  2. ↑ jonas (13 January 2012). "Malusi Nkanyezi Gigaba". South African History Online. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  3. ↑ Naidoo, Sharda; Molele, Charles; Letsoalo, Matuma (3 February 2012). "State of the Nation: Zuma adopts Chinese model". Mail and Guardian. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  4. ↑ Hosken, Graeme; Child, Katharine (13 June 2017). "How Gigaba broke the rules to give the Guptas citizenship". Rand Daily Mail. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  5. ↑ Staff Writer (23 July 2018). "These are the ministers who still haven't showed up to parliamentary meetings this year". businesstech.co.za. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  6. ↑ <https://www.huffingtonpost.co.za/2017/03/30/malusi-gigaba-the-young-lion-from-eshowe_a_22019404/>
  7. ↑ https://mg.co.za/article/2014-06-12-the-mystery-gigaba-bank-account
  8. ↑ https://www.huffingtonpost.co.za/2017/03/30/malusi-gigaba-the-young-lion-from-eshowe_a_22019404/
  9. ↑ http://www.satsa.com/wp-content/uploads/TBCSA-Data-Snapshot.pdf
  10. ↑ Vecchiatto, Paul (21 February 2018). "Court finds Gigaba lied under oath". Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  11. ↑ https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/companies/2017-12-11-dlodlo-to-appeal-over-oppenheimers-private-international-terminal/
  12. ↑ "DA lays complaint against Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba with Public Protector". Democratic Alliance. 21 February 2018. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  13. ↑ Potterill, J. "South Africa: North Gauteng High Court, Pretoria". Southern African Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  14. ↑ <https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-10/south-africa-court-dismisses-gigaba-appeal-over-lying-under-oath>
  15. ↑ https://www.jacarandafm.com/news/news/listen-gigaba-petition-concourt-fireblade-judgement/
  16. ↑ Bloomberg
  17. ↑ https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2017-05-26-betrayal-of-the-promise-the-anatomy-of-state-capture/#.WxD540iFOUk
  18. ↑ From <http://www.gupta-leaks.com/tony-gupta/guptaleaks-guptas-and-associates-score-r5-3bn-in-locomotives-kickbacks/>
  19. ↑ http://www.gupta-leaks.com/tony-gupta/guptaleaks-guptas-and-associates-score-r5-3bn-in-locomotives-kickbacks/
  20. ↑ https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/exclusive-gupta-linked-train-company-in-r5bn-rip-off-20180323
  21. ↑ http://www.gupta-leaks.com/tony-gupta/guptaleaks-guptas-and-associates-score-r5-3bn-in-locomotives-kickbacks/
  22. ↑ Sikonathi Mantshantsha - Financial Mail Deputy Editor.
  23. ↑ https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/is-gigaba-mr-state-capture-20170528-2
  24. ↑ https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/opinion/2017-09-12-how-corrupt-power-captured-eskom-and-helped-pull-the-plug-on-growth/
  25. ↑ https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/is-gigaba-mr-state-capture-20170528-2
  26. ↑ https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2018-02-27-governance-of-state-owned-enterprises-reforming-the-unreformable/
  27. ↑ "ANC branches want Malusi Gigaba in top six". Mail and Guardian. 21 October 2012. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  28. ↑ Pitjeng, Refilwe (10 May 2017). "Gigaba's alleged ex-mistress questions integrity, wife's qualifications". Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  29. ↑ "NY fashionista ignites full wrath of Malusi Gigaba's wife". News24. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  30. ↑ Buthelezi, Siphelele (24 January 2016). "Noma Gigaba: She had sex with my man". IOL News. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  31. ↑ Alfreds, Duncan (9 May 2017). "Gigaba's former mistress takes on his wife in social media storm". News24. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
Political offices
Preceded by
Naledi Pandor		 Minister of Home Affairs
2014–2017		 Succeeded by
Hlengiwe Mkhize
Preceded by
Pravin Gordhan		 Minister of Finance
2017–2018		 Succeeded by
Nhlanhla Nene
Preceded by
Ayanda Dlodlo		 Minister of Home Affairs
2018–present		 Incumbent
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