Gigaba: I'm sorry for pinky finger jibe
7 November 2018
Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba has apologised unreservedly for making a gesture with his pinky finger at an EFF MP during Parliament's volatile sitting on Tuesday.
In a tweet, the minister said that being provoked, combined with the strain he was under, were no excuse for making the gesture.
He agreed with another tweet which said the gesture fed into a "toxic masculinity discourse".
The pinky gesture was a retort to EFF MP Mbuyiseni Ndlozi’s suggestion that cellphones without cameras be given to Cabinet ministers, to avoid their phones being hacked.
To laughter from the EFF benches, Ndlozi said: "Honourable President [Cyril Ramaphosa], you know this phone doesn't have a camera.
"You may want to start ordering it for Cabinet members, because it will save us a lot [from] some of their embarrassing activities.
"It can't even be hacked this phone. Can I come maybe give it to you so you have a model of what phones might be critical for honourable Cabinet members?"
It was a reference to the self-filmed tape of Gigaba which leaked last month. The video contained "content of a sexual nature", which Gigaba claimed was released after his phone was hacked.
The minister responded to Ndlozi by raising his pinky – a gesture some interpreted to be an insult regarding the MP's penis size.
Gigaba's gesture earned him scorn on social media.
