Johannesburg - A report in the Sunday Times regarding the security fence around President Jacob Zuma’s Nkandla home was factually inaccurate, said Betafence SA.
According to the report, less than two years after it was erected, the multi-million-rand high-security perimeter fence was falling apart.
The newspaper said it had visited Nkandla and found parts of the fence entirely broken and other sections patched with logs and other objects.
The president's 8.9-hectare private homestead in KwaZulu-Natal was surrounded by two rings of 3m-high fence - an internal fence that cost R8.2m and the outer fence, which was collapsing.
The contract to install the fence was awarded to Durban businesswoman Thandeka Nene, whose company secured work worth R98m on the project.
However, the contract was cancelled due to non-performance and given to Betafence Projects, at R9.2m for the job, the newspaper reported.
Mike James, general manager of Betafence SA, said: “We just want to issue a correction of the facts regarding the Sunday Times article, written by Bongani Mthethwa.
“In the article, Betafence SA and Betafence Projects were referred to inaccurately without any request for comment from either the publication or the journalist prior to going to print, but we would like to place on record the actual facts.”
He said the fence depicted in the article was not a Betafence product, and was not installed by Betafence.
“In the article it referred to two security fences, however the article stopped short of giving full details of both fences,” James said.
The outer perimeter fence, depicted in photographs, was the fence that was in a state of disrepair.
“This was not a Betafence product. This was ClearVu, manufactured by Cochrane Steel of Johannesburg. By failing to mention Cochrane, the article creates the false impression that this is a Betafence product,” said James.
“The inner high security fence, which is not in question in this article, nor is it depicted in any of the images, was designed and manufactured by Betafence SA and installed by Betafence Projects.” - Sapa