Zuma: ANC bigwigs have two choices

TOP ANC leaders will be faced with two choices when they meet in Cape Town this week.

They can accept public protector Thuli Madonsela’s damning report on upgrades at President Jacob Zuma’s private homestead, or advise Zuma to take the matter to the high court for review.

Madonsela’s report is expected to dominate deliberations at the two-day ANC national executive committee (NEC) meeting.

The party has confirmed that the 447-page report will be tabled at the meeting as ANC leaders assess the damage Nkandla has done to its election campaign.

Although Madonsela made no adverse finding in terms of Zuma, she did find that he benefited improperly from the upgrades and directed him to pay back a portion of the money used.

Zuma has promised to comment once he has studied the report.

A Luthuli House insider said a high court review of Madonsela’s findings was one of the options being considered.

But an ANC NEC member said challenging the report could backfire on the party.

“The report was not as bad as we anticipated. We just have to make sure we implement what is said in the report and that the officials implicated face the music.

“There are lessons to be learnt here . . . but the [R246-million] figure is a bitter pill to swallow for everyone.

“The report will be tabled to allow everyone to comment on it and for the NEC to give direction,” said the member.

Another NEC member said he did not expect Zuma to come under fire at the meeting as a result of the report.

“I don’t think that the president will be grilled at the meeting. Besides the fact that he enjoys much support in the NEC, I think the report is more damning on government officials — and perhaps a minister or two — than it is on the president.

“However, we have to assess the damage and look at the brokendown systems that allowed for this to happen.”

Zuma is expected to publicly respond to the report after the meeting.

The ANC is working feverishly behind the scenes to manage the fallout from the Nkandla report — mostly emphasising that Zuma had been “cleared” by Madonsela.

This week, the ANC summoned its communicators from all over South Africa to Luthuli House, where they were given a briefing and a presentation on how to respond to the report.