Johannesburg
- Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s draft report on Nkandla paints a picture of senior government officials bending over backwards to please President Jacob Zuma without his instructions.
According to two independent sources who read the report, it accuses senior Department of Public Works officials of negligence, maladministration and of hiding behind security to inflate prices.
It is understood Madonsela found that officials responsible for the project included non-security features like sports fields and a tuck shop in the hope that this would make Zuma happy.
The sources said while Madonsela cleared Zuma of any wrongdoing, she hinted at corruption, collusion and the acceptance of kickbacks on the part of the officials responsible for the controversial R206 million upgrade to the president’s private homestead.
The draft report did not recommend criminal action against the culprits. It said there was confusion between what is provided for in the Ministerial Handbook and Madonsela’s understanding of the law, the sources added.
“The old man (Zuma) has been cleared,” a senior government official said on Sunday.
“But the report is scathing on Public Works officials and the political leadership there. It accuses them of all manner of things, from negligence to maladministration. It hints on corruption and kickbacks, but Thuli could not give any evidence.”
The official said the report blasted the Public Works employees for failing to question the inflated prices, saying this was one of the reasons the costs soared over R200m.
“It was a case of people wanting to please. They thought they were doing JZ a favour, but they were doing quite the opposite because the buck stops with him and he has to answer for that. They put the spotlight on him. I mean, how do you fail to question those obviously inflated prices unless you stand to benefit? What does a soccer field have to do with security?”
The second source who read the report confirmed that Zuma had been exonerated.
“(Madonsela is) clearing Zuma on the basis that he didn’t authorise anything,” he said.
“The revamp was done by Public Works. The buck shifts to officials who appointed the service providers.
“Why did they allow the prices to be inflated? What was in there for them, because none of them followed proper channels? The tenders were not advertised.”
The official said, however, that Madonsela did not say whether the culprits should be sanctioned internally or criminally charged.
“Had she said that, it would mean that those people would be prosecuted. They would have had to come clean, if anybody instructed them, or take the fall for those who issued instructions,” the source added.
“Collusion and corruption did happen because the tenders were not advertised.”
Madonsela’s report was not clear about who was to blame for the abuse of taxpayers’ money, the official said.
“It’s silent on who has to take the fall.
“If there is anything that is going to take the fall, it’s the law – the confusion between the ministerial handbook and the law. The report also blames the security clauses because it allowed people to use secrecy in order not to advertise the tenders.”
The sources said Madonsela recommended a review of the ministerial handbook.
Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi’s adviser, Phillip Masilo, said while he had heard that Madonsela had given the draft report to some security cluster departments, Nxesi had yet to receive it.
The security cluster departments have refused to comment.
Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula’s spokesman, Sonwabo Mbanagna, said the report remained confidential until it was officially made public. “It cannot be correct to ask about this. We cannot comment about a report that has not been made public.”
Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa’s spokesman, Zweli Mnisi, said: “I advise you to contact the public protector’s office.”
Justice Minister Jeff Radebe, who chairs the justice, crime prevention and security cluster, said he did not get the report.
State Security Minister Siyabonga Cwele’s spokesman, Brian Dube, said departments that received the report would “respond accordingly”.
The Star