Johannesburg - Cosatu says President Jacob Zuma’s commitment to pay back some of the money used for upgrades to his Nkandla home will assure the nation that he is willing to listen and take political responsibility.
The federation said the Nkandla debacle should also be used as a lesson by government to ensure service providers and senior government managers were adequately supervised.
“This mismanagement of state resources should never be allowed to happen again and we hope this intervention by the president will bring closure to the matter,” Cosatu spokesman Sizwe Pamla said in a statement.
Zuma on Tuesday proposed a settlement in the Constitutional Court case brought by the opposition that would see him reimburse the state for improvements to his rural home.
The Presidency said Zuma proposed in a letter sent to the registrar of the court that it order the finance minister and auditor-general to determine an appropriate amount to be refunded.
Cosatu said it welcomed this decision and added that it would stop opposition parties in its tracks from using the Nkandla debacle as a campaigning tool ahead of this year’s local government elections.
“They will have to find real policy proposals to argue their positions in public. This matter unfortunately became a swamp, where all political charlatans were swimming in to get the public’s attention and was used to vilify both the ANC and the president,” said Pamla.
Last year, Cosatu president Sdumo Dlamini said the media was using the Public Protector’s Nkandla report which first recommended Zuma should pay for some upgrades to plant a seed of doubt in the minds of people about him and the ANC.
Labour Bureau