Johannesburg - The R215 million of taxpayers’ money spent on security upgrades at the presidential Nkandla homestead was “peanuts” compared to the R170 billion of fruitless expenditure incurred during President Jacob Zuma’s administration, Cope leader Mosiuoa Lekota said on Thursday.
“People are making a lot of noise about Nkandla… Look at the R170bn, that’s when you get a sense of how much damage has been done,” he told the Cape Town Press Club, adding South Africa had again returned to debt, which had been cleared. “You have to go vote… but it cannot be for the ANC. If we’re going to save our democracy, we must defeat the ANC.”
Lekota said the mood among citizens, from townships to petrol stations to airports and taverns, was one of anger and frustration. “This army of men and women are furious about the state of the party. This Nkandla thing can only add (to this),” he said.
“... the ANC is not in the good books in our communities. The black communities have seen through the ANC,” Lekota said.
However, he stopped short of joining opposition calls for the impeachment of Zuma over the findings of the public protector.
Political Bureau