Parliament - The DA was to serve court papers on the Presidency and Parliament on Wednesday in an effort to ensure President Jacob Zuma repays at least some of the costs of the R215 million taxpayer-funded security upgrades at his Nkandla rural homestead in line with the public protector’s findings.
The legal action follows the adoption of the special parliamentary committee report agreeing with Police Minister Nkosinathi Nhleko’s exoneration from any repayment on the argument that all installations were security requirements, including the cattle kraal, swimming pool, visitors’ centre and amphitheatre, which the public protector had determined were non-security benefits.
Following a terse debate on Tuesday, the National Assembly adopted the report on the back of ANC numbers, with a vote of 198 for and 93 against.
The DA’s court action is seeking a supervisory explanatory relief – effectively an order of the court setting out the exact steps of identified entities to be involved in determining the reasonable percentage of non-security benefits to be repaid.
The recourse to the courts is based on the argument that Zuma failed to comply with the public protector’s finding that he repay a reasonable percentage of the non-security upgrades with the guidance of the SAPS and National Treasury. Instead, Zuma told Parliament a year ago, in a letter dated August 14, 2014, he had asked the police minister to make the relevant determination.
In its court documents, the DA argues that this action was “irrational” and invalid: if the president disagreed with the public protector’s findings, he should have taken the “Secure in Comfort” report on review to court.
Such court review has been instituted by former fisheries minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson, now energy minister, last year in order to set aside the “Docked Vessels” report, which found the mismanagement of an R800 million sea fisheries patrol tender resulted in loss of confidence in South African fisheries.
As the president’s action was irrational, according to the DA, the National Assembly’s decision to establish the latest ad hoc committee on the police minister’s report was also irrational and invalid.
The opposition party is also serving court documents on the public protector, as an interested party.
The EFF has already asked the Constitutional Court for direct access on the Nkandla repayment debacle – EFF leader Julius Malema told Zuma “Let’s meet in court” at the end of the presidential Q&A in the House earlier this month.
The DA decided to ask the Western Cape High Court to start the legal process. Its reasons include the unlikelihood of the Constitutional Court granting direct access as its reluctance on such an approach is on record.
Political Bureau