Cleared deputy minister ‘did the right thing’

FORMER deputy public works minister Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu, who was cleared of any wrongdoing on Nkandla by the public protector, said she always did the right thing during her involvement in the project.

In her report, public protector Thuli Madonsela found Bogopane-Zulu had raised serious concerns about some of the vanity additions to President Jacob Zuma’s homestead.

She had suggested, for example, the swimming pool be used to teach children of the Nkandla community to swim.

Bogopane-Zulu also suggested that the military clinic be placed in a location where it could benefit the public, and that the advice of civil aviation authorities be sought to see how the helipads could also be used by civilian helicopters.

When a decision was taken to relocate the neighbours, she suggested the department of human settlements be consulted to see whether they could build RDP homes for the displaced people.

On Friday, Bogopane-Zulu said she always tried to do what was right and what she was paid for before she was removed from the project.

“I have done my best, given advice and, yes, I was removed [from involvement in the project] as I came back from representing my country in the UN,” she said.

Bogopane-Zulu, who is partially sighted, said she had asked her office to convert the public protector’s report into Braille and would study it thoroughly before making further comments on it.

She said she was also waiting for the Special Investigating Unit to conclude its investigation into Nkandla. “Let’s wait for them to conclude their investigation. I believe I was doing my job in Nkandla and that’s where it stands,” BogopaneZulu said.

Madonsela’s report stands in stark contrast to the inter-ministerial task team report that named Bogopane-Zulu and former public works minister Geoff Doidge as having “attended and presided over site meetings and in some instances interacted with contractors involved in the project”. Bogopane-Zulu hit out at her cabinet colleagues in December, saying they had reached that conclusion without even interviewing her.

“I have not seen the report at all. None of the ministers have spoken to me. I was never interviewed or asked anything.

“For me, logic says when you do an investigation and people are mentioned in a report, you give them an opportunity. None of the ministers spoke to me,” she protested at the time.

Bogopane-Zulu, who is deputy minister of women, children and people with disabilities, is placed 88th on the ANC’s national election list. But it is not clear whether she will return to the executive if the ANC wins.