Now it’s defence minister’s turn to face Nkandla fire

THE Nkandla saga is refusing to go away.

Notwithstanding a possible court challenge to force President Jacob Zuma to disclose when he will pay back the money, Minister of Defence Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula is also about to come under fire in Parliament.

Just as opposition parties in the National Assembly last week told Zuma the cost of Nkandla would not go away, the heat will be on his defence minister tomorrow over spending at some of the facilities.

Mapisa-Nqakula is facing a grilling from the DA, during question time to ministers in the security cluster, over the construction of the clinic at Zuma’s famous homestead.

The clinic forms a part of the facilities that cost the state R135.2 million. The ministers of Police and Public Works recently told Parliament that the state did not spend the R135.2m on the clinic alone.

They said the amount was used to build the clinic, police barracks and the helicopter helipad. The ministers also insisted the clinic would be used by the community after Zuma leaves office.

But Kobus Marais of the DA wants to know from Mapisa-Nqakula whether or not the clinic is operational.

During the recent media visit to Zuma’s house, it was revealed by a top Defence Force official that the clinic has not yet been completed.

Apparently, the facility still needed some equipment before it could start operating.

Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi also told the ad hoc committee on Nkandla, two weeks ago in Parliament, that he had stopped all projects at Zuma’s home because of the investigations.

This was the same explanation given by Lieutenant-General Mondli Zuma – no relation – to the media recently.

The head of special projects in the Ministry of Police, he said the incomplete work at Nkandla was due to the investigations.

Even the police control room, which is supposed to be the central point from which to monitor all movements in the house, had no CCTV cameras. And so Mapisa-Nqakula will have to explain to the DA, and Parliament in general, why the clinic at Nkandla has not been working.

This was one of the sticking points in the debacle as opposition parties believed the clinic would benefit Zuma alone.

However, the explanation from the departments of Public Works and the Police suggested the community would be able to use the clinic later.

There was even a separate entrance built for the community to gain access to the clinic once they started using it.

Zuma may have answered Nkandla questions for the last time in Parliament last week, after the EFF threatened to go to court, but his ministers will not be spared.

In the week after he finished with these questions, Mapisa-Nqakula will still have to account for the clinic. And further questions may emanate from the answer to these questions.