Durban - The much anticipated legal battle between the man accused of allowing the multimillion-rand “security upgrade” overspend at President Jacob Zuma’s Nkandla homestead and the SIU was expected to kick off at the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Monday.
Minenhle Makhanya, the architect and project manager for the controversial upgrades, is seeking an order from the court instructing the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to disclose certain “confidential” documents; which he maintains are critical to the preparation of his defence against the R155 million claim against him.
Among the documents he wants is the SIU’s final report on Nkandla, dated August 2014.
The architect claims the SIU, which is suing him, is refusing to allow him access to certain documents on the grounds that they are either classified, do not exist or are irrelevant to his defence.
But Makhanya maintains that the contents of the documents constitute the foundation of the SIU’s claim against him.
He said in court papers filed in October that it was “astonishing” that the SIU, while relying on the classified documents on the one hand, claimed that they were irrelevant for purposes of defending the claim on the other.
In Makhanya’s application on Monday, he is expected to ask the court to order the SIU and the Department of Public Works to give him access to the documents.
Makhanya is being sued for allegedly authorising and overseeing the implementation of improvements and installation of security measures at Nkandla which were “in excess and beyond the security assessments and requirements” of the police and defence force.
Makhanya first sought the documents in September last year, after which the SIU gave him access to 23 of the 40 documents requested.
He conceded that the SIU had delivered a compact disc to him, which contained electronic items of certain documents.
These documents amount to 13 lever arch files, but did not include all the allegations against him, he said.
Daily News