• Norma Gigaba, the wife of former Cabinet minister Malusi Gigaba, was arrested by the Hawks on Friday.
• She is facing charges of malicious damage to property and crimen injuria.
• Her devices were allegedly seized before her arrest as part of the investigation into the crimen injuria charge.

Norma Gigaba, who is facing charges of malicious damage to property and crimen injuria, has been given her cellphones and laptop back after law enforcement seized them last month.

Gigaba, accompanied by her lawyer Victor Nkhwashu, arrived at the Brooklyn police station in Pretoria on Tuesday morning to collect the devices.

According to Nkhwashu, the devices were taken on 22 July for the purposes of investigating the crimen injuria charge.

However, Nkhwashu could not confirm if police had a warrant for the search and seizure of Gigaba's property.

"She was not shown a warrant of search and seizure and she did not consent to taking the items," Nkhwashu said.

Gigaba, the wife of former finance minister Malusi Gigaba, was arrested in Pretoria on Friday after she allegedly caused extensive damage to a multi-million rand Mercedes-Benz, driven by her husband.

She was granted bail of R5 000 on Saturday and made her first appearance in the Hatfield Magistrate's Court on Monday.

The matter against Gigaba, who is being represented by advocates Dali Mpofu, SC, and Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, SC, was postponed to 14 September.

Mpofu told the court they intended to approach the High Court to lodge certain civil matters in relation to the case and also intended to look at the validity of the charges.

Following the short court appearance, Nkhwashu told journalists that, among other things, civil litigation would be launched to challenge Gigaba's arrest.

Nkhwashu said, based on the charges, Gigaba should have been warned to appear in court and her arrest was not necessary. He added that they would also challenge the involvement of the Hawks in the matter.

On Tuesday, Nkhwashu also said the question of whether Gigaba's husband used his political influence in the arrest would be ventilated in court. 

According to the charge sheet, which News24 has seen, the malicious damage to property charge related to a vehicle that belongs to her husband.

As for the crimen injuria charge, the charge sheets states that Gigaba sent an insulting SMS accusing an unnamed person of selling tenders, sleeping with older women and using her husband as a "ticket to cheating with women".