Motlanthe leads call to declassify Nkandla report
DEPUTY President Kgalema Motlanthe has strongly criticised the government’s decision to classify a report into the refurbishment of President Jacob Zuma’s Nkandla home as “top secret”.
Speaking on Power FM — a new Gauteng-based radio station — on Thursday night, Motlanthe became the first senior cabinet member to call for the report to be made public.
“There is no reason. Once there was a clamour and an outcry about it and an investigation is initiated, there is no need to then shroud it in secrecy,” he said.
“Once there is a shroud of secrecy, it gives rise to speculation, it gives rise to suspicion, it gives rise to mistrust.”
Motlanthe said he did not see why a redacted report — excluding the president’s sensitive security detail — should not be made public.
“It would serve no useful purpose to divulge those issues that would otherwise make the occupants of that place vulnerable unnecessarily, so it would be an invasion. But there is nothing wrong in giving a report about the scope of the project. What was the scope of the project — the breakdown?” Motlanthe said during an interview with host Tim Modise.
State Security Minister Siyabonga Cwele raised eyebrows last week when he denied ordering the classification of the Department of Public Works’ report as “top secret”.
He said the decision to classify the task team’s report into the R206-million upgrade had been taken by the person who commissioned the investigation, Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi, under the minimum information security standards policy.
Nxesi has kept the document confidential, arguing its contents are “top secret”. He has supplied a copy to public protector Thuli Madonsela, who is undertaking her own probe.
Motlanthe said shrouding the investigation into “Nkandlagate” in secrecy hampered the government’s ability to lead.
“You can’t lead effectively, because for every word that you utter there are 101 questions or there is doubt. To be able to lead effectively, there shouldn’t be doubt about your sincerity or integrity,” he said.
Nxesi’s spokesman, Sabelo Mali, did not respond to a request for comment.
The Mail & Guardian newspaper obtained 12 000 pages of documentation related to the refurbishment after it went to court to force the Department of Public Works to release them as part of a request under the Promotion of Access to Information Act. The documents detail how:
The costs ballooned from R27-million to R270-million;
Zuma was apparently kept in the loop throughout;
There were lax financial controls and no budget limits;
Once there is a shroud of secrecy, it gives rise to speculation and mistrust
Funds were diverted from public works projects; and
An underperforming contractor was kept on the job after threatening court action.
The DA’s Lindiwe Mazibuko has written to National Assembly speaker Max Sisulu requesting a probe into whether Zuma misled parliament.
Zuma told the National Assembly in November that he had not asked the government to build a house for him and his family and that he was not consulted on the security upgrades. Mazibuko argued that evidence obtained by the Mail & Guardian shows Zuma was apparently kept in the loop to some degree and he had not been entirely honest with parliament.
Presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj refused to comment on Motlanthe’s remarks, saying Nkandla was the focus of an ongoing investigation. Comment on this: write to tellus@sundaytimes.co.za or SMS us at 33971 www.timeslive.co.za