By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Chairperson of the Joint Standing Committee on Defence, Malusi Gigaba has temporarily halted the broadcast of his ex-wife Noma Mngoma’s interview on the Showmax series Untied.
Gigaba wanted to prevent Mngoma from speaking about his alleged infidelity during their marriage, porn addiction and misuse of public funds.
Untied is an eight-episode talk show series that unpacks the complex world of divorce through the stories of famous women who have lived it.
Eight women feature on the first season of the show, including Sonia Booth, Dawn Thandeka King, and Zandi Nhlapo.
Gigaba’s legal action comes after he received a WhatsApp communication from Vanessa Tloubatla, the executive producer of the show, who wanted to give a right to reply to allegations that were made against him.
Gigaba said upon receiving the communication, he sought legal advice to evaluate the potential impact of these allegations on his public standing as he was in the process of rebuilding his name which was already tainted by past allegations.
In the lawsuit, Multichoice is cited as the first respondent, Goat Originals, which shot the show is the second respondent, while Mngoma is the third respondent
“Vanessa indicated that the third respondent (Mngoma) shared her experience of our former marriage particularly; her own perspective about our marriage; allegations of infidelity, pornography, the incident involving the hawks and further allegations about the use of taxpayer’s money for personal trips,” read the court documents.
Gigaba said that through his attorneys, he requested a copy of the podcast, and he was provided with a summarised version of the interview.
He said the interview contained allegations of personal nature with respect to his private life and there were further allegations regarding his professional life as a former minister.
Gigaba said it is clear that Multichoice and Goat Originals did not want to provide the full episode or the podcast, in order for him to be able to understand within what context his ex-wife made the allegations.
He then advised his legal team of his desire to interdict the broadcasting of the interview on the basis that its sole import and effect was to taint his good name, and it was not in the public interest.
Mngoma episode on Untied has been temporarily blocked, and the matter has been postponed to 7 July as more papers are expected to be filed.