ANC elders seek payback as Nkandla splits party

PRESSURE is mounting on President Jacob Zuma to account for the R246million upgrade of his Nkandla home as a growing number of senior ANC leaders call on him to act on public protector Thuli Madonsela’s report.

Although the ANC appears to be closing ranks around Zuma publicly, a different picture is emerging behind the scenes as the ruling party grapples with moral outrage in reaction to the upgrades.

Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe broke his silence on Nkandla while visiting Genadendal in the Western Cape yesterday. He told potential ANC voters that Zuma and his government should take responsibility.

“It has been investigated by the ministerial task team as well as the public protector . . . There are reports, there are recommendations and those reports should be acted upon.

“That’s the right thing to do. What needs to be done has to be done. Those who must take responsibility have got to take responsibility,” Motlanthe told the SABC afterwards.

Ben Turok, a long-serving ANC MP and the outgoing chairman of parliament’s joint ethics committee, yesterday echoed Motlanthe’s urging.

He said that Madonsela’s report

“should not be ignored.

“We will lose face as government and as the ANC if we ignore this report, and I don’t like people who attack the public protector and criticise her . . . It’s a serious report. It has a lot of detail and she clearly investigated this thing very thoroughly and it has to be implemented,” said Turok.

He urged the ANC’s national executive committee, its highest decision-making body between conferences, not to “cover up” Nkandla.

“I would urge the NEC to come out in the open and address things frankly. If things have been done wrongly, and we do know there have been errors, then they must act accordingly. . . It’s far better that you face it and you take whatever action necessary, because the people are not stupid.”

In a Business Day column on Wednesday, NEC member Pallo Jordan was scathing in his criticism of Zuma and the ministers involved in the Nkandla upgrade.

“The most depressing aspect of Madonsela’s Nkandla report is the complacency of the ministers who oversaw the project.

“No alarm bells went off when reports surfaced that the construction costs had already trebled! Although Madonsela does not suggest President Jacob Zuma acted corruptly, he cannot evade moral responsibility for what occurred.”

He further wrote: “Unfortunately, Zuma has been implicated in every scandal that has arisen during his term of office, making it impossible to approach his office in search of a solution.”

The negative sentiments emerged as the ANC NEC was planning to meet in Cape Town, and to deal with the report.

Zuma was expected to discuss the Nkandla report with the party’s national working committee — a smaller but more influential body than the NEC — last night.

ANC spokesman Jackson Mthembu confirmed the Nkandla report was on the agenda.

There is a view among some in the senior leadership that the ministers involved should be held responsible.

Others feel Zuma should repay the funds, as directed by Madonsela.

But the ANC appears to be divided on the issue.

Official spokesmen argued that Zuma had done nothing wrong and blamed state officials.

Madonsela recommended that Zuma act against the ministers involved, including Thulas Nxesi of public works and the police’s Nathi Mthethwa.

She also found that Zuma had “unduly” benefited from the upgrades and ought to pay back the money used to build a kraal, cattle culvert, chicken run, swimming pool and an amphitheatre at Nkandla.

His portion was expected to run into millions of rands.

Zuma, however, appeared to be unfazed by the Nkandla troubles on Friday night.

He enjoyed himself at the Cape Town International Jazz Festival as a guest of Independent Newspapers’ owner, Iqbal Survé.