Public protector ‘misled country’
DURBAN: The ANC rounded on Public Protector Thuli Madonsela yesterday, 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 that she had incorrectly labelled items like the “amphitheatre”, which in reality was nothing more than a garden with a retaining wall.
The MPs, who are members of the parliamentary ad hoc committee on Nkandla, met in a rowdy session at the KwaZulu-Natal provincial legislature in Pietermaritzburg yesterday to deliberate on their visit to Zuma’s homestead on Wednesday.
The MPs said the president was “not secure in comfort” and instead the president had no security in his house. They said equipment meant for security had not been installed, and that even CCTV cameras in the homestead were not operating.
During the debate, the ruling party took on opposition parties over their reliance on Madonsela’s report in attacking Zuma, and demanding that he should pay back money that was unduly spent on the security of his house.
However, they all agreed that what they saw at Nkandla was not worth R246 million. They said it would be an embarrassment if Zuma were to host global leaders there.
In her report, Madonsela had stated that part of the public funds were spent on building an amphitheatre, but all the MPs who visited Nkandla agreed 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 claiming Zuma was “secure in comfort”.
During the heated debate, ANC MP Thandi Mahambehlala came out with guns blazing, saying the Madonsela report tarnished the government’s credibility.
“What made me traumatised yesterday (after the Nkandla visit) was when somebody who holds such a position would mislead South Africans. The president was called so many words that you might find around the world – 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 take part in the upgrading.