‘Concentric allocation’ is the name of the game

THERE has been an unnecessary furore over the past few days concerning a utilitarian R200m “homestead” being built for the country’s hard-working President Jacob Zuma at Nkandla. Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi has dusted off the National Key Points Act to remind unruly citizens that it poses a security risk to discuss presidential residences.

Given that former National Party (NP) liberation heroes now run the African National Congress’s Progressive Business Forum, there is no reason useful NP legislation should languish in government vaults. Indeed, the president’s wives and girlfriends — and his trousers — could all usefully be classified as key points under the act.

Presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj has noted that foreign dignitaries such as Barack Obama, who might wish to visit Zuma in Nkandla, cannot simply be checked into a local hotel. Equally pertinently, pioneering journalist Karima Brown has observed that complaints about the homestead have come primarily from the “chattering classes”, who find that Zuma challenges their “notion of what it means to be black and middle class in SA”.

In contrast to reactionary and “linear” National Treasury officials, Zuma has developed a revolutionary “concentric model” for the rational allocation of public resources. In the light of this innovative approach, it is understandable that priority has been given to expenditures on Zuma’s own person. About R2bn is due to be spent on a development project dubbed “Zumaville” just 3km from Zuma’s homestead. It was proposed that the government buy a R2bn Boeing 777 jet for Zuma (a proposal that certainly challenged the idea of what it is to be black and middle class). This last initiative was sadly postponed but a comprehensive Zuma programme of concentric expenditure could be rolled out from a central node in Nkandla as early as next year.

KwaZulu-Natal economic affairs and tourism MEC Mike Mabuyakhulu has already announced 3,000 capital projects in the province at a total cost of about R500bn. Mabuyakhulu’s career has exemplified Zuma’s nonconventional approach to resource allocation. Charges were brought against him last year for his alleged portfolio-relevant contributions to the economic affairs and tourism experiences of businessman Gaston Savoi. Mabuyakhulu’s R100,000 bail was paid in cash by an official from his office in a textbook example of the “black plastic bag” school of financial management allegedly pioneered by fellow concentric allocation theorist Blade Nzimande.

Mabuyakhulu’s own contributions to the theory of concentric perquisites have included the submission of mileage reimbursement claims of R100,000 a month for the use of his private Range Rover on government business. Meanwhile, the reckless charges against the MEC have been withdrawn by the National Prosecuting Authority under the novel jurisprudential doctrine of concentric immunity.

Mabuyakhulu has started work on an “aerotropolis” around King Shaka airport. R200bn may soon be found for a Chinese-sourced high-speed railway linking Durban with Johannesburg. Proposals that Durban should bid for the 2020 Olympics were blocked in the Cabinet last year but Moses Mabhida Stadium could still provide an excellent home for a 2024 Olympics costing as little as R200bn.

New Durban port projects have been championed by the public-spirited citizens who run SA’s construction industry in the hope of “reducing national logistical costs”. Durban will host two multibillionrand harbour works, the largest of which, on the old international airport site, has been costed by Transnet at more than R100bn.

Road, rail and air transport systems will fan out from these new projects. This will enable citizens from across the country to travel to KwaZulu-Natal and enjoy the many marvellous attractions the province will offer. One of the many important decisions that will be taken in Mangaung in December is whether this path-breaking concentric approach to resource allocation should be wholeheartedly adopted by the liberation movement.

Butler teaches politics at the University of Cape Town.