Zuma cleared over ‘security upgrades’

Jacob Zuma, the South African president, has been cleared over taxpayer-funded security upgrades to his private home by a police report which defended features including a swimming pool it said was needed for ‘‘fire-fighting purposes’’.

Police Minister Nathi Nhleko said that the 200 million rand (NZ$23m) upgrades to Nkandla, which have caused public outcry and also include animal enclosures and a visitor centre, were legitimate security features.

His findings were in sharp contrast to those of Thuli Madonsela, the country’s public watchdog, who last year ruled that Zuma should pay back part of the money spent on the sprawling group of thatched houses and reprimand ministers involved for the ‘‘appalling manner in which state funds were abused’’.

‘‘The expenditure incurred by the state went beyond what was reasonably required for the president’s security, was unconsciously excessive and caused a misappropriation of funds,’’ the Public Protector’s report, entitled Opulence on a Grand Scale, read. It was dismissed as just one in a series and Zuma’s office refused to respond to it. ing a demonstration of how a firepool works and an interview with a ‘‘cultural expert’’ about the ‘‘spiritual value’’ of a cattle kraal or pen, prompting laughter from the assembled journalists.

The police minister said a fire expert had agreed the pool was ‘‘the best water source available on site to replenish the fire engine’’ in the event of a major fire.

An ‘‘amphitheatre’’ installed in the grounds with decorative aloes was, he said, necessary to prevent soil erosion by heavy vehicles including fire engines and armoured police vehicles using the adjoining road.

The chicken runs and cattle pens were necessary to keep animals away from the security beams installed around the property, he explained.

Opposition parties labelled the report as a ‘‘whitewash’’. John Steenhuisen, the Chief Whip for the Democratic Alliance, said the police had relied ‘‘largely on Google and Wikipedia’’.

Julius Malema, a former ANC youth leader suspended from the party for indiscipline, said he would continue to use his parliamentary platform as leader of the new Economic Freedom Fighters party to call for the president to ‘‘Pay Back the Money’’ – a campaign that saw him and his MPs forcibly removed from the house on several occasions.

Telegraph Group