DA welcomes SIU civil suit against Makhanya and Department of Public Works
12 August 2014
The DA learned this morning and welcomes, with caution, the Special Investigating Units's (SIU) civil suit against the Department of Public Works and the architect of President Jacob Zuma's private residence at Nkandla, Minenhle Makhanya.
This comes as the SIU announced that it is seized with completing its report and is presumably an attempt to retrieve any funds that were misappropriated in bank-rolling the ‘security upgrades' at Nkandla.
Although the DA welcomes this civil action by the SIU, we contend that this action must not be used to scapegoat the Department of Public Works and Mr Makhanya in an attempt to evade accountability.
Furthermore, President Zuma must still apply his mind to all the relevant documents and reports in his submission to Parliament.
The DA awaits the tabling of the SIU report and is cautiously optimistic that due process will be followed in the civil suit filed by the SIU. It is high time that the South African people learn the full truth about Nkandla.
Statement issued by James Selfe MP, Chairperson of the DA's Federal Executive, August 12 2014
Update:
SIU may be scapegoating Nkandla architect
13 August 2014
In the lead-up to the completion of the SIU report into the ‘security upgrades' to President Jacob Zuma's private residence at Nkandla, it appears that the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) is attempting to scapegoat the Nkandla architect, Minenhle Makhanya.
The latest reports reveal that the SIU, in its ongoing civil suit, is seeking to recover more than R155 million from Makhanya as the ‘principal agent' allegedly responsible for inflating the cost of the ‘security upgrades' at Nkandla.
This raises unanswered questions as to who is responsible for sanctioning these upgrades, and specifically, why money is not being sought from President Zuma himself. Indeed, this was a recommendation of the Public Protector's Report - which seemingly has been ignored by the SIU.
Following the tabling of the Public Protector's report in March, the DA estimated that Mr Zuma should pay back tax liability of around R16, 8 million for the fringe benefits.
Furthermore, the Department of Public Works is also a defendant in this civil suit relating to Nkandla and we suspect that it will be expected to recover the shortfall of the R246 million rand upgrades in an attempt to absolve President Jacob Zuma from as much accountability as possible.
It is now more important than ever that upon completion of this report, the President table it before Parliament so that Members of Parliament may interrogate its veracity.
While all those responsible for the wrong-doing, including Mr Makhanya, must be appropriately held accountable, this cannot be selective, with those in power being excluded.
The sooner the SIU report is made public and an ad hoc committee is re-established; the sooner Parliament can get to the full truth of the Nkandla scandal and hold those responsible for this gross abuse of public funds to account.
Statement issued by James Selfe MP, Chairperson of the DA's Federal Executive, August 13 2014
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