What about the rest of the till slip?

There was something deeply unsettling about national treasury’s determination this week that President Jacob Zuma must refund R7.8m of the R246m it cost to build his Nkandla residence. As much as Zuma’s legacy will be a dismantling of SA’s institutions of democracy and the scandals of crony capitalism involving Schabir Shaik and then the Guptas, he will be remembered most for the exorbitant amount it took to build Nkandla. The circus act that followed, the contortions of Zuma’s own cabinet to pretend his swimming pool was actually a fire deterrent, only tarnished his image further.

So when treasury, headed by the man against whom Zuma is engaged in a cold war, Pravin Gordhan, announced this week that the president should repay R7.8m, there was at least a sense of relief that there would finally be some accountability — even if it falls short of what many wanted.

It has taken a monumental battle to get to even this point. First, public protector Thuli Madonsela found that Zuma owed the money for the upgrade as far back as 2014 — a decision which led to her being castigated by senior members of the ANC who have done their own legacies no favours. Zuma blithely ignored Madonsela for more than a year until March, when the constitutional court affirmed her ruling.

Zuma is liable to repay the costs of only five items deemed “non-security” upgrades — the visitor centre, amphitheatre, cattle kraal, chicken run and that infamous swimming pool. The cost of those items: R11.53m, of which he must pay 87.9%, or R7.8m.

Taxpayers would be justified in feeling short-changed. This is not only because it appears Zuma is now clocking a R238m “profit” on his residence but also because the “security upgrades” were inflated by R155m. Architect Minenhle Makhanya has yet to be held accountable for that.

In the end, the R7.8m represents just 3% of the total amount spent on Nkandla. Political parties predictably leapt on treasury, with Cope calling it an “insult” and the DA also lamenting the sum.

And it does seems a vanishingly small consequence, considering the cost to SA’s reputation of witnessing pictures of Nkandla being plastered all over international news channels like the BBC and CNN.

This is why, even once Zuma has left office, Nkandla will stand out as a shining monument to the legacy of corruption that flourished under his presidency. It trumps all his other scandals, a list which includes firing a highly regarded finance minister and driving SA towards a fiscal cliff, shielding from justice a man wanted for genocide (Sudan’s Omar al-Bashir) and allowing his friends to land their jet at a military air base.

Of course, Zuma might want to believe this will draw a line under Nkandla. But he's unlikely to be that lucky.

Nkandla has come to mean so much more than just his private residence. It’s become a symbol of the abuses of Zuma’s presidency — the unrestrained disregard for taxpayers and the institutions of accountability, including the Chapter 9 institution of the public protector.

Quite how Zuma will finance this repayment remains to be seen. Cynics might suggest that his friends seem to have large war chests, so it might not be that difficult to raise three times his annual salary.

But presuming he does, the president can only look forward to his next crisis: the 783 corruption and fraud charges against him which have remained unprosecuted.

In April, the high court set aside the 2009 decision by the national director of public prosecutions to drop the criminal charges against Zuma, saying that decision was “irrational”. This should mean the charges are reinstated.

Yet prosecutions boss Shaun Abrahams has shown no particular inclination to relaunch the prosecution. Now, Abrahams has even less of a justification for failing to act, after the high court said last week that there was no chance of an appeal against its decision succeeding.

Another grim tussle awaits, with the country’s reputation again likely to come in for a bruising. And the only people who might be thankful are perhaps the only group, besides his cronies and inner circle, to have benefited from his presidency: SA’s legal fraternity.