DA appeals Public Works' rejection of PAIA request on Nkandla

The Department of Public Works has failed to respond to the DA's Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) request for information relating to the Auditor-General's audit findings on construction at President Jacob Zuma's Nkandla homestead. According to PAIA, the failure of the Department to respond to our PAIA application amounts to a rejection of the request. The DA has lodged an appeal to have the request reconsidered.

In October last year, the A-G presented his audit findings to the Public Works Portfolio Committee. In this presentation, the A-G said that he is in possession of detailed information on Nkandlagate which he does not plan to release to the committee.

The DA subsequently submitted a PAIA application to gain access to this information.

In terms of PAIA, if the request has not been responded to within 30 days then access must be considered refused. We have therefore lodged an internal appeal in terms of section 75 of the Act.

The A-G's report on the Nkandla expenditure would not in any way have security implications, it would simply detail how this exorbitant amount of money was spent by the Department of Public Works on the President's private residence.

The public have a right to know how their money is spent and this should not be hidden from scrutiny.

It is time to stop the secrecy and reveal the details now.

Statement issued by Anchen Dreyer MP, DA Shadow Minister of Public Works, April 28 2013

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