Cape Town - Nelson Mandela’s family has firmly doused claims that his Qunu home has a fire pool.
Daughter Makaziwe Mandela and grandchildren Ndaba and Ndileka Mandela said it was an ordinary swimming pool, and it was paid for by the late Madiba himself.
Last year the Public Protector found President Jacob Zuma unduly benefited from the non-security features built at his private home in Nkandla, including a fire pool and a cattle kraal.
But Police Minister Nkosinathi Nhleko said the features were there for security.
Defending his report into the Nkandla spending debacle, he said even Madiba had a fire pool.
Nhleko showed the media an image of Mandela’s home and said: “It also has a fire pool.”
He added that a cattle kraal and walkway were also built in Qunu at the government’s expense.
But Ndaba says the minister has his facts wrong.
“Whether there is a pool or not, everything was built with my grandfather’s money,” he told The Times newspaper.
A 2013 public works document revealed R28.2 million was spent on Mandela’s Qunu home, including electric fencing, a lift, automatic gates and an alarm system.
Daily Voice