All the fuss about Nkandla is now pretty much over, bar the shouting from various factions, institutions, analysts and commentators as to what it all means, and whether President Jacob Zuma will comply.
For most, the Constitutional Court's ruling that Zuma must pay back a yet-to-be-determined portion of the R215 million spent upgrading Nkandla is all about the money.
In the judgment, read out yesterday by Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng, the highest court in the land found that several aspects of Nkandla could not be passed off as security upgrades. The items listed included - for those who were not glued to the radio or TV as I was - the swimming (fire) pool and the cattle kraal.
The question now is, if Zuma must pay for his own lavish pool and kraal, just how much are those items worth?
We just don’t know; the amount that Zuma must pay back has yet to be determined by the National Treasury and sanctioned by the court, but must be placed in the coffers in 105 days.
If it were you or I, I can’t imagine a pool costing all that much, but this was a state tender and costs are bound to have climbed.
Public Protector Thuli Madonsela - who Mogoeng likened to a Biblical David - has previously calculated that an amount in the order of R10 million needs to be paid back.
Assuming this is right, and based on Zuma’s salary of almost R3 million a year - while a rather nice amount for the CEO of SA Inc - it will be a tall order for the Pres to pay back R10 million in three months’ time.
Maybe he will be bailed out, we just don’t know. Maybe he wisely started a contingency fund when Madonsela’s report on Nkandla was released just more than two years ago. Somehow, given consistent denials that any amount was due until recently, I doubt it.
Had Zuma, however, paid the money into a trust then, it would have attracted interest, and been worth a bit more today. Sure, it’s a drop in the ocean when we consider that the country is trying to save R25 billion over the next three years.
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Nonetheless, it could have been used to build quite a few - admittedly less lavish - houses for the poor, or connect more townships to the grid, or help alleviate the effects of the worst drought this country has seen in recorded history.
Alas, that didn’t happen, and even if he does pay back the money, it will doubtless end up in the fiscal pool and not be ringfenced for good.
However, the reality is, the ruling was not about money.
It was about our constitution, and how no-one is above the law, and reaffirms that we live in a truly democratic, constitutionally-based country.
It shows that, despite the spectre of “state capture”, not everything can be bought.
That is incredibly good news for our country as a whole at a time when corruption is seemingly the order of the day, and the economy looks like it’s spiralling down the drain.
Who knows what will happen next? But what yesterday’s ruling did for me was restore faith in a country I love. The rand has benefited too.
Read also: Rand surges on Zuma ruling
Let’s hope the legacy of this ruling lasts to benefit our children’s children, and isn’t eroded.
* Nicola Mawson is the online editor of Business Report. Follow her on Twitter @NicolaMawson or Business Report @busrep.
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