Nov 14, 2013 | 8:11 AM |
In November 2012, the public heard that the total bill for an upgrade to President Jacob Zuma’ private residence had cost R250 million.
The scandalous amount caused much controversy, with the public and opposition parties demanding to know where the money came from, and the details behind the exorbitant spending.
Public Protector, Thuli Madonsela was appointed to investigate the issue, and release a report by the end of the year. Her investigative team’s efforts faced many hurdles along the way including lack of cooperation from government, the holding back of vital information, and calls by opposition parties to release the report as soon as possible.
The latest in this saga is that the government’s security cluster has filed court papers to prevent Madonsela from releasing her final report.
Timeline of the Nkandla saga:
November 2012 - News breaks on the total funds spent on the Nkandla upgrade – R250 million in public money spent on president’s private residence
November 2012 - President Jacob Zuma denies knowledge of the scale of construction at Nkandla. However, a Mail and Guardian investigative report reveals that President Jacob Zuma was provided with exhaustive details about progress on the security project at his Nkandla complex in November 2010. The documents, which refer euphemistically to the Nkandla expansion as "prestige project A", reveal how Zuma's supposed private contribution dwindled by half from more than R20-million to slightly more than R10-million, while the total costs more than doubled.
November 2012 – Zuma denies public money was spent on the residence. “My residence in Nkandla has been paid for by the Zuma family. All the buildings and every room we use in that residence was built by ourselves as family and not by the government.” He claims to have taken out a bond to pay for the upgrade.
November 2012 – Public Protector, Thuli Madonsela appointed to investigate Nkandla
January 2013 - Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi releases his own report to state that “No state funds were used to upgrade President Jacob Zuma's private rural residence in Nkandla.” According to the report, R71-million was spent directly on security, while a further R135-million was spent on operational costs incurred by state departments involved in the upgrade.
June 2013 – It is reported that President Jacob Zuma secured a “modest” R800 per month rent deal for the land on which his Nkandla compound is built.
August 2013 - Thuli Madonsela visited President Jacob Zuma’s Nkandla residence today for an all-day in loco inspection to help her with her investigation of the R250 million security upgrade to his home.
September 2013 - The department of public works has rejected allegations that Cabinet ministers tried to pursue Thuli Madonsela to drop her investigation into the upgrade of Nkandla.
November 2013 - Madonsela's provisional report was given to the security cluster on November 1. This followed a special request that it have access to the report ahead of all other parties to establish if its contents would compromise Zuma's security. The return date for comment was November 6.
8 November 2013 - The cluster filed an urgent application on Friday to prevent Madonsela from releasing the report. The High Court in Pretoria postponed the matter to the end of the week.
6 November 2013 - Thuli Madonsela Madonsela files opposing papers in a bold move to defy government’s application to prevent the report from being released.
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