Daily Sun (May 29 2015) - PRESIDENT Zuma will not have to “pay back the money”. That’s according to Police Minister Nathi Nhleko, who announced yesterday that the Nkandla spending was all justified.
AND HE SAID EVEN MORE MONEY WILL BE SPENT ON SECURITY AT NKANDLA!
President Jacob Zuma will not be liable for any money spent in the past – or in future, the minister said yesterday.
Nhleko said the R246 million in security upgrades were not unnecessary comforts and were all crucial to Zuma’s safety and security.
Nhleko, accompanied by Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi, published the report in Parliament yesterday into the so-called non-security installations in Nkandla.
Nhleko investigated whether the installation of a fire-pool, amphitheatre, cattle kraal, chicken run and a visitors centre were necessary to ensure Zuma’s safety and security.
The report found that:
) The fire-pool is the most important security feature in case of fire. Swimming in it is a secondary function.
) The visitors centre caters for Zuma’s private and public engagements and ensures privacy, and is thus a security feature.
) The amphitheatre is to be used as an emergency assembly point for staff and family and for briefings by security personnel.
) The kraal and chicken run had to be relocated away from the security fence to avoid animals setting off alarms.
Nhleko said the fire-pool was requested by the South African police in 2009 because the fire fighting capabilities in the Nkandla area were poor.
Nhleko played three videos to demonstrate the need for the construction of all the installations, including the fire-pool, amphitheatre, cattle kraal, chicken run and the visitors centre.
One of the videos showed how a fire truck took an hour and 10 minutes to arrive at Nkandla.
Nhleko said the interest around the security upgrades had caused crucial work to stop in Nkandla, including the installation of motion detectors. He recommended that this work should be funded and finalised soon to ensure Zuma’s
safety.
Nhleko said he didn’t pay any attention to a public works document that said Zuma should pay R10 million because no one could explain how the figure was calculated.
He said he was also unhappy about the publication of sensitive security information.
“The report is an unprecedented threat to the safety of the president,” he said. “The president’s safety and security has been violated.”
The report comes more than a year after Public Protector Thuli Madonsela found that Zuma unduly benefited from the project and ordered the public works department to help government determine which improvements were not security related.
The public works department and treasury had to help determine how much Zuma had to repay.
Zuma instructed Nhleko to establish whether he had to pay back any of the money.
Parliament’s ad hoc committee, which is considering Madonsela’s report, has already rejected any notion that Zuma should repay the state for benefiting from the “non-security” items in Nkandla.
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