South Africa’s Home Affairs minister, Malusi Gigaba, has apologized to his family and the public after an explicit video he says was strictly meant for himself and his wife got leaked over the weekend.
Sex tape of South African minister leaked by 'opponents'
The minister over the weekend explained that the material had been gotten after his phone got hacked in 2016/2017.
He added that the said tape which is circulating amongst certain political figures was the subject of several blackmail attempts since March 2017.
According to a spokesperson, blackmailers started demanding from around April an amount of 10m rand ($690,000, £540,000) in cash.
“When it became clear that he was really not interested in entertaining these blackmail demands the call now began to demand that he intervenes in various state entities,” his spokesperson, Vuyo Mkhize, told state-owned SABC.
Gigaba, a former leader of the ruling African National Congress’ youth wing has also previously served as Finance Minister.
Minister Gigaba’s statement
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…
This video has been at the centre of a number of blackmail and extortion attempts, dating back to the period immediately following my appointment as Minister of Finance, on 31 March 2017, all of which I have steadfastly refused to entertain…
These blackmail/extortion attempts as well as the illegal interception of my communication/hacking of my phone have all been reported to the relevant law enforcement/intelligence agencies and I am advised that the resultant investigations are still continuing…
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…
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…