Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba has revealed that a tape containing material "of a sexual nature" is circulating in political circles and has been used in blackmail and extortion attempts against him.
Gigaba said in a series of tweets on Sunday morning that the video was stolen from his cellphone and that he became aware of this just before his appointment as finance minister in March, 2017.
He said the tape was stolen during a phone hacking incident in 2016 or 2017, and that its content was only meant to be viewed by his wife and himself.
The matter has been reported to the relevant law enforcement/intelligence agencies and investigations are continuing.
Gigaba tweeted that he was taking this opportunity to publicly apologise, in advance, to the rest of his family - especially his children, mother and in-laws - and the South African public for the pain and embarrassment the likely wider distribution of this private material will cause.
