africatodayonline.blogspot.com -
South Africa’s top official anti-graft watchdog is recommending President Jacob Zuma repay some of a R20 million publicly funded "security upgrade” to his private home, which included a swimming pool and marquee area, a newspaper reported on Friday (29/11/2013).
The Mail and Guardian weekly said the Public Protector’s provisional report, entitled ‘Opulence on a Grand Scale’, found Zuma had derived "substantial” personal gain from the home improvements paid for by the state.
Zuma’s spokesman declined to comment on the newspaper report. No one was immediately available to comment from the office of Public Protector Thuli Madonsela.
The leaked findings of an investigation by the official anti-corruption watchdog into Zuma’s Nkandla residence could be damaging to Zuma and the ruling African National Congress (ANC) six months before an election.
The newspaper said the improvements made to Zuma’s home included a visitors’ lounge, amphitheatre, cattle enclosure and swimming pool, referred to in Public Works documents as a ‘fire pool’ on the pretext it could double up as a water reservoir for fire-fighting purposes.
The government went to court this month to try to prevent Madonsela from releasing the investigation report, on the grounds that cabinet ministers needed more time to work out whether its findings jeopardised Zuma’s security.
It quickly dropped its challenge after Madonsela insisted she had gone to great lengths to ensure the report did not pose any threat.
The Mail and Guardian said Madonsela’s report accused Zuma of violating two executive ethics codes — failing to protect state resources and misleading parliament.
Zuma, a polygamous Zulu traditionalist whose first five years in office have been littered with scandals, told parliament last year all the buildings in the sprawling compound in rural KwaZulu-Natal province had been built "by ourselves as family, and not by the government". - Reuters
