ANC satisfied with Zuma’s Nkandla response
JOBURG – President Jacob Zuma has left the decision of whether he should repay a portion of the Nkandla upgrades to police minister Nkosinathi Nhleko.
ANC chief whip Stone Sizani said he was satisfied with President Jacob Zuma’s response to all reports on the upgrades to his Nkandla homestead, calling it comprehensive.
This follows the Office of the Public Protector, Thuli Madonsela saying that Zuma had not yet responded to her report, Security in Comfort, on the multimillion security upgrades at his private residence.
Zuma handed the 20-page written response to National Assembly Speaker, Baleka Mbete on 14 August, saying that it was up to police minister Nkosinathi Nhleko to determine whether he should repay a portion of the money spent on the upgrades.
“In responding to Parliament on this matter, it was important and appropriate that the president takes into account not only one but all the applicable reports produced thus far… to assist Parliament to sufficiently process the matter,” Sizani said in a statement.
“It would have been amiss for the president to confine himself to a single report at the expense of the rest,” he said.
“The Public Protector’s report… itself does make reference to several reports already issued in this regard.
The presidency also defended Zuma’s response, saying it took all reports into account.
Presidential spokesperson Mac Maharaj said the president’s response to the National Assembly took the reports by the parliamentary joint standing committee on intelligence, the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) and Public Protector into account.
In her report released in March this year, Madonsela found that Zuma benefited unduly from the R246 million upgrades and recommended that he repay some of the money.
However, Zuma chose not to respond to Madonsela’s report in full within the prescribed timeframe, saying he would wait for the SIU findings.
The parliamentary process that dealt with all the relevant reports regarding the security upgrades must now be allowed to take its course, Sizani said.
“We are confident that in processing the matter, the opinions of various role players, including those of the Public Protector, would be formally sought by Parliament. This process should therefore be respected.”
