Court tells Zuma to pay back state funds
Print Edition
SOUTH Africa’s top court yesterday ordered President Jacob Zuma to pay back some of the US$16 million of state money spent to upgrade his private home, in a stinging rebuke that hits the him financially and politically.
The unanimous ruling by the 11-judge constitutional court, a central pillar of the democracy established at the end of apartheid, also said Zuma had failed to “uphold, defend and respect” the constitution by ignoring Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s findings on his sprawling residence at Nkandla in rural KwaZulu-Natal.
In 2014, Madonsela, a constitutionally mandated anti-corruption watchdog, identified a swimming pool, cattle enclosure, chicken run, amphitheater and visitor center as non-security items that Zuma must pay for.
Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng gave the Treasury 60 days in which to determine their “reasonable cost,” after which Zuma would have a further 45 days to pay. Early estimates of the costs were 10 million rand (US$680,000), Madonsela said.
Steely lawyer
Besides hurting Zuma, the ruling is a vindication for the soft-spoken but steely lawyer described by Mogoeng as “the embodiment of the Biblical David” fighting against the Goliath of state corruption.
“The office of the Public Protector is one of the true crusaders and champions of anti-corruption and clean governance,” Mogoeng said. “Hers are indeed very wide powers that leave no lever of government power above scrutiny.”
In a short statement, Zuma’s office said it respected the ruling and would determine the appropriate action in due course.
Madonsela said the ruling should help restore the shaken faith of South Africans and others, including investors, in the state of democracy in the continent’s most advanced economy.
“The judgment was something that many of us as lawyers will cherish for the rest of our lives,” she said. “I always said that our democracy is built to last. When part of the system fails, you can’t say the entire system has failed.”
The uncompromising nature of his verdict — Mogoeng said it carried a “profound lesson” for South Africa — piles more pressure on Zuma, whose second term in office is due to end in 2019. Zuma was also ordered to pay costs.
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