American political scientist Bernard Cecil Cohen famously wrote in 1963 that “the press may not be successful much of the time in telling people what to think, but it is stunningly successful in telling its readers what to think about”. I cannot agree more. Recent evidence of this includes the many letters to the editor and other reader feedback to several South African publications following Noma Mngoma’s appearance at the Zondo Commission of Inquiry, which is probing allegations of industrial-scale theft of public money during South Africa’s so-called Nine Wasted Years.

To the uninitiated, Mngoma is the estranged wife of former Cabinet Minister Malusi Gigaba, who, some believe, was one of the key enablers of the malfeasance that Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo is investigating. Her testimony has been a veritable upper-cut blow to her husband’s reputation. Of course, he has disputed much of what she has said. He, for instance, claims the monthly maximum on his credit card he allowed her to spend was R3 000. Her retort: “In my life, there is nothing I can do with R3 000. I had a credit card with R100 000 to spend every month. I buy a bag between R30 000 and R40 000.”

Our Noma can’t do anything with R3 000? This is an insult to the millions who, during the past year, have had to make do with measly handouts from government, their jobs and livelihoods having been decimated by Covid-19. Many would count themselves lucky if they could lay their hands on this princely sum every month. This is enough to take care of accommodation, food and other needs. Granted, I am talking about no-frills accommodation et cetera here. But this – or worse – is the lived reality of many in this country.

South Africa has the dubious distinction of being the world’s most unequal country in terms of not only income but also access to opportunities and essential services. According to the World Bank’s calculations, in 2019, about 20% of citizens controlled 70% of the country’s economic resources. The majority are wallowing in poverty.

For quite some time, it appeared Gigaba was on a political trajectory that would eventually take him to Mahlamba Ndlopfu, the Presidential palace in Pretoria. We would have landed up with a First Lady Noma. She would have become a latter-day Emelda Marcos, the former First Lady of the Philippines, whose thieving late husband was hounded out of office by gatvol citizens who staged street protests in February 1986. It is said that, during her husband’s 21-year reign, she amassed 888 top-drawer handbags and more than 3 000 pairs of shoes.

Or perhaps she was going to be the Grace Mugabe of Mzansi. The former Zimbabwe First Lady also has a taste for the finer things in life. No, this is an understatement – she is addicted to luxury. Before her husband was slapped with travel bans by Western countries, she was a regular in the world’s fashion capitals and was well known for her jewellery and designer shoes. One story has it that she hit a Paris shop for a whopping $75 000. Although she denies this, the story has stuck in the popular imagination.

I hear that Chantal Biya, wife of Cameroon’s long-ruling President, is profligate as well. And, reportedly, so too was Ana Paula dos Santos, whose husband, Jose Eduardo dos Santos, was the President of Angola from 1979 to 2017.

All the First Ladies I have mentioned – except Biya – are no longer living in the lap of luxury. This must be a reminder to Noma that her privileged lifestyle may come to an end too and the millions of South Africans she insulted at the Zondo Commission of Inquiry will have no sympathy for her at all.