Parliament - Parliament’s special Nkandla committee will spend two hours this week viewing the R215 million security upgrades at President Jacob Zuma’s homestead.
This follows a briefing by the police minister on his report which dismissed the need for any presidential repayments.
As several opposition parties indicated they would not take part in any rubber stamping, the oversight visit is crucial in their decision whether to continue with what is the third parliamentary ad hoc Nkandla committee.
It must consider the police minister’s report, but there is an emerging joint opposition view, if the ANC again used its numbers to push through an exoneration, it could do so alone.
Previously, opposition parties walked out after the ANC majority ensured neither the president nor public protector appeared before it – and to clear Zuma of any wrongdoing in its report adopted by the National Assembly last November.
The first parliamentary Nkandla committee a few days before the May election last year decided to leave the matter for the new Parliament.
Sparks could fly on Tuesday when the DA is expected to drive home to Police Minister Nkosinathi Nhleko why his report was flawed and had no standing. The party argues that the minister could not overrule the public protector’s finding a reasonable percentage of costs should be repaid for undue benefits like the swimming pool, cattle kraal, amphitheatre and visitors’ centre.
“We’ll see what the committee response is. We’ll be guided by legal advice,” said DA MP James Selfe, who serves on the committee. “If this turns out to be a whitewash, we don’t want to be part of a whitewash.”
United Democratic Movement leader Bantu Holomisa said the party had rejected the minister’s report, and would continue to call for witnesses like the public protector to appear before the committee. Those points would be raised again, and it depended on how the ANC reacted. “If they are intransigent, they can kiss and say goodbye (to the opposition),” said Holomisa.
Freedom Front Plus MP Corne Mulder said he expected there would be strategising on both sides.
“I’m going. I’m keeping an open mind. Obviously at some stage, the opposition could withdraw,” he said.
The EFF, which has been driving the “Pay back the money” call, could not be reached for comment.
It has emerged that MPs’ access to Zuma’s homestead was facilitated by the office of Speaker Baleka Mbete, but this facilitation did not extend to the media.
Committee chairman Cedric Frolick said that according to a legal opinion, there was “no legal authority to grant access to the president’s private residence” for the media. However, he was adamant Tuesday’s ministerial briefing, and the two days of committee discussions at the KwaZulu-Natal legislature in Pietermaritzburg later in the week, were open to all. The MPs’ site visit to Nkandla is due to take place on Wednesday.
Keeping costs down was the reason for the committee sitting in KwaZulu-Natal, Frolick added.
Questions have been raised why Nhleko is appearing before the committee when last year the ANC declined to allow Public Protector Thuli Madonsela to brief it as requested by opposition parties.
Like the public protector in March last year, the police minister publicly released his report in late May this year.
At the end of a three-hour presentation, featuring a video showing a pump at the poolside gushing water into the air against the backdrop of the song O Sole Mio, Nhleko absolved Zuma from having to repay any money.
Features like the swimming pool, cattle kraal, chicken run, amphitheatre and visitors’ centre were required security measures, he found.
This echoed the cabinet’s preliminary response immediately after last year’s public protector findings in the “Secure in Comfort” report.
“The retaining wall (amphitheatre), cattle kraal and culvert, fire pool and water reservoir, accommodation for security personnel and visitors’ waiting area are all essential security features, which ensure physical security and effective operation of security equipment,” said then justice minister Jeff Radebe. “These are critical in the delivery of security services to the president timeously.”
Political Bureau