POLITICS

DA writes to Zuma over Nkandla - Helen Zille

Party leader says President must explain what personal accountability he takes for scandal

Nkandla: The DA has written to President Zuma for explanation

The Presidency and various government departments have over the last few weeks stubbornly avoided any admission of fault or accountability for the Nkandla scandal. The Democratic Alliance will not allow President Zuma and his government to get away with spending R250 million, intended for essential service delivery, on his private residence at Nkandla. 

The Democratic Alliance has written to President Zuma, and to the Ministers of Public Works, Defence, Police and Public Service and Administration to give them a formal opportunity to offer a full and thorough explanation of how this unacceptable expenditure came to be approved, and on what basis. The President must also explain what personal accountability he takes for the scandal, and who else in his government will be held accountable for this failure of judgement.  

The DA believes that spending R250 million on upgrades to the President's private home is not only morally wrong and unjustifiable given our country's social needs, but that it is also possibly illegal. It is, we believe, in violation of the provisions of the Ministerial Handbook and the Executive Ethics Code.

We will carefully study the response we receive from the President and the other departments, and will then consider what legal action is necessary and possible. 

So far, the President and his government have done everything to dodge uncomfortable questions. The President's office has referred queries to the Department of Public Works, as the department that contracted the work in Nkandla; but the Minister of Public Works, Thulas Nxesi, has said that it was the Departments of State Security and Defence that requested and planned the upgrades. The government has even tried to justify the expenditure for vague security reasons, hiding behind provisions in the National Key Points Act. Just today, Parliament has blocked a question submitted by DA Parliamentary Leader Lindiwe Mazibuko regarding the Nkandla scandal. 

We await the government's response to our letter. 

Statement issued by DA leader, Helen Zille, October 25 2012

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