Zuma told to repay home upgrade costs
Print Edition
South Africa’s top anti-corruption watchdog says President Jacob Zuma should repay some of a US$21 million publicly funded “security upgrade” to his private home that included a swimming pool and cattle enclosure, a newspaper said yesterday.
The Mail and Guardian weekly said a provisional report by the Public Protector entitled “Opulence on a Grand Scale” found Zuma had derived “substantial” personal gain from the improvements to his private compound at Nkandla in the rolling hills of KwaZulu-Natal province.
The leaked findings of Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s investigation will reinforce a perception of runaway corruption under Zuma and could hurt him and the ruling African National Congress in an election due in six months.
Zuma’s spokesman declined to comment, while Madonsela’s office said the leak was “unethical and unlawful.”
The ANC threw its weight behind Zuma, saying it believed he had done nothing wrong.
The newspaper said the improvements included a visitors’ lounge, amphitheater, cattle enclosure and swimming pool — referred to in documents as a “fire pool” on the grounds it could double up as a water reservoir for fire-fighting purposes.
The report also found some of the more legitimate security features, such as 20 houses for police protection, a clinic and two helipads, were excessive and should have been placed in a nearby town to benefit the broader community.
The newspaper estimated some of the questionable features of the upgrade at 20 million rand (US$2 million).
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