State leases adjacent land

THE Department of Public Works pays R12 850 a year to lease 6.6ha of land adjacent to President Jacob Zuma’s Nkandla homestead that is used for a range of security purposes.

The property, which has a helipad, reservoir, an astroturf soccer field and a security complex of 21 buildings used by defence force and police personnel, is separate from Zuma’s private homestead, according to the owner, the Ingonyama Trust.

The department’s lease with the trust is for 40 years with an option to renew.

In a statement this week, the Democratic Alliance questioned what would happen to the land and the assets built on it once Zuma stepped down.

A report tabled by the joint standing committee on intelligence in parliament on Thursday said the government had developed the land because Zuma’s property was not large enough to accommodate all the required security measures.

Some of the features include a fire truck garage, a water tank for the firefighting unit, a military clinic, sewerage pump station and a refuse area.

The intelligence committee said the developments “are by no means unique and are part of works that were undertaken at various security sites like Houghton [in Johannesburg], Qunu [in the Eastern Cape], Union Buildings [Pretoria] and Tuynhuys, parliament [both Cape Town] and King’s House [in Durban]”.

The committee said the terrain, climate and poor infrastructure in the Nkandla region “directly influenced the high costs”.

The security upgrade of the homestead and adjacent state-owned land has cost taxpayers R 210.5-million.

Inside Zuma’s homestead is a maze of paved pathways leading into palatial doublestorey homes. The entertainment area, which includes a dining hall, has a recently installed swimming pool. The property also features an amphitheatre, high-security cattle kraals and a chicken run.

It has been proposed that Zuma pay R8 000 a month for his 3.8ha property, according to a senior official with the Ingonyama Trust.

But the official said Zuma was not obliged to pay.

“The Zuma family is part of the Nxamalala clan and the land was allocated to them a long time ago under customary law . . . No lease is

Will the president get to keep it after he ceases to be president?

required, although the Zuma family may at some time opt for a lease as it is useful to have a written document,” she said.

In a statement on Thursday, the DA’s parliamentary leader, Lindiwe Mazibuko, said: “There seems to be no appreciation that spending R206-million on one man’s home, regardless of where the expenditure occurred, is simply not justifiable.

“Regardless of whether it is on private or publicly owned land, will the president get to keep it after he ceases to be president?”

The Department of Public Works signed the lease agreement, which includes a 10% annual escalation, on February 1 2011.

King Goodwill Zwelithini is the chairman of the trust, which owns traditional land and the major townships of Umlazi, KwaMashu and Inanda in Durban.

Records show that the trust owns about 32% of the land in KwaZulu-Natal.

See Pages 5, 17 and 24