Durban - The ANC rounded on Public Protector Thuli Madonsela on Thursday, accusing her of grossly misleading the country about the controversial security upgrades to President Jacob Zuma’s rural homestead.
ANC MPs slammed Madonsela’s report on Nkandla titled “Secure in Comfort”, saying it was mischievous and she had incorrectly labelled items like the “amphitheatre”, which in reality was nothing more than a garden with a retaining wall.
MPs who are members of the parliamentary ad hoc committee on Nkandla met in a rowdy session at the provincial legislature in Pietermaritzburg on Thursday to deliberate on their visit to Zuma’s homestead on Wednesday.
The MPs said the president was “not secured in comfort” and instead the president had no security in his house. They said equipment meant for security had not been installed, and even CCTV cameras in the homestead were not operating.
During the debate, the ruling party squared up with opposition parties on their reliance on Madonsela’s report in attacking Zuma and demanding he should pay back money that had been unduly spent on the security of his house.
But all agreed that what they had seen at Nkandla had not been worth R246 million. They said it would be an embarrassment if Zuma were to host international leaders there.
In her report, Madonsela said that part of the public funds had been spent building an amphitheatre, but all the MPs who visited Nkandla agreed that there was no such thing. All they saw was a garden or “terrace”.
The ANC MPs accused Madonsela of not telling the truth. They said she had lied when she had said Zuma was “secure in comfort”.
During the heated debate, ANC MP Thandi Mahambehlala came out with guns blazing, saying the Madonsela report had tarnished the government’s credibility
“What made me traumatised yesterday after the Nkandla visit was that somebody who holds such a position would mislead South Africans.
“The president was called so many words … corrupt, a thief, you name them. Without any basis we called him names based on the report.”
People who had applauded the report were now “melting away”.
IFP MP Narend Singh said since Madonsela was being vilified by committee members she should be afforded a chance to defend herself.
NFP MP Nhlanhla Khubisa said the president should be held accountable since he was the one who brought in his former personal architect, Minenhle Makhanya, to participate in the upgrading of the security features.
“The introduction of Makhanya by the president leaves us with a very grey area and lacuna. The president says, ‘Here is the man who did some fantastic work for me. I am introducing him to you.’ The moment he did that, he was already sliding into dangerous terrain and getting into the area of procurement,” said Khubisa.
Makhanya is currently appearing before the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate’s Court in regard to the Nkandla scandal.
Khubisa said there was no more money for further security upgrades, as R246m had already gone “down the drain”.
As opposition parties called for Mahambehlala to retract her allegations, ANC MPs took turns insisting that the report had lied about Nkandla’s upgrade.
Mahambehlala said Madonsela had misled the public by saying the cattle kraal was sophisticated. She said after reading the report she had imagined a kraal with air conditioners, which she did not see at Nkandla.
“I did not see a helipad, there is no helipad. It was just a cricket pitch.
“The security barracks are property of the SAPS, not President Zuma. These houses are in the private land of Ingonyama Trust, and we cannot link them with the R246m,” she said.
According to Police Minister Nathi Nhleko’s report, R3m had been spent building a chicken run and cattle kraal. The “fire pool”, which had cracks on the floor, was worth R10m.
ANC MP Mathole Motshekga said it was good that the National Assembly had not taken instruction from Madonsela’s report because it was clear that the president did not benefit, but builders had squandered the money.
The big question which dominated the debate was whether Madonsela, Zuma and Makhanya should appear before the committee to answer questions. ANC MPs did not want Madonsela and Zuma to appear.
The committee said it had decided to call back Nhleko and Minister of Public Works Thulas Nxesi to answer more questions about the spending on Nkandla.
On Thursday, the chairman of the DA’s federal executive, James Selfe, said: “If President Zuma takes exception to the public protector’s report, it is for him to approach the courts by way of a review application to have her remedial actions set aside, not to commission a member of his cabinet to contradict it.
“The police minister’s conflict of interest notwithstanding, his report is unconstitutional.
“In the absence of any legal challenge by President Zuma to have the public protector’s findings and remedial actions set aside, it remains that he “unduly benefited” and must “pay back a reasonable portion” for these upgrades.
The Mercury