The elephant in the House

After seven hours of chaos, heckling and even a physical confrontation, the parliamentary ad hoc committee's report on Nkandla was finally adopted by a majority decision last night.

The opposition now plans to challenge the way in which parliament handled the process and to force President Jacob Zuma to repay a reasonable portion of the R246-million spent on the non-security upgrades to his private homestead in Nkandla, KwaZulu-Natal, as recommended by Public Protector Thuli Madonsela.

The ANC, National Freedom Party and African People's Convention were the only parties in favour of the report, which exonerates Zuma from any wrongdoing.

The DA, Economic Freedom Fighters, IFP, UDM, ACDP, Freedom Front Plus, African Independent Congress and Agang voted against it. The motion was carried by 210 votes to 103.

Sparks flew in the debate, with the ANC claiming opposition parties were misleading the public on the Nkandla issue. The opposition hit back, saying the ANC, NFP and APC were condoning corruption.

Zuma, who has come under fire for not appearing in the National Assembly to answer questions, was not in the House.

He is attending the G20 Summit in Australia.

In scenes not seen in parliament before, Minister of Small Business Development Lindiwe Zulu was caught on video physically attacking EFF MP Godrich Gardee in the corridors.

Zulu was forced to withdraw a statement that DA MP Geordin Hill-Lewis had lied when he brought her actions to the attention of the National Assembly.

She denied the attack even though it was on social media network YouTube and MPs were viewing it.

Tensions ran high after opposition MPs lost patience with Speaker Baleka Mbete. ANC MPs also lost patience with the opposition's tactics to delay debate on the report.

At one point, supporters of the ANC and EFF physically attacked each other in the public gallery.

After hours of filibustering and delaying tactics, the debate finally started, at around 6pm.

ANC MP Cedric Frolick, chairman of the ad hoc committee - which did not include members of the opposition after they walked out - said itused investigative reports before it instituted its own investigation.

He said the committee compiled its report after going through these documents as well as the Public Finance Management Act, Ministerial Handbook and the Cabinet Memorandum of 2003. The findings, rejected as a whitewash by the opposition, included:

• The project was correctly initiated;
• Zuma was aware of the upgrades as he received formal and informal updates;
• The National Key Points Act was erroneously introduced;
• The private professional team was appointed irregularly and there was gross negligence on the part of senior department officials;
• Then Public Works Minister Geoff Doidge and his deputy, Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu, were involved in the project and could be held to account.
• It was, however, premature to decide whether the president had unduly benefited from the non-security upgrades.

The report recommends that:

The Special Investigating Unit recoup costs amounting to R165-million; and

Security experts evaluate security concerns raised by the SIU and report back to parliament.

DA MPs Mmusi Maimane and James Selfe said South Africa had reached a crossroads.

Selfe said Zuma must have been deaf and blind not to have realised what was happening at his own home.

EFF MP Sibongile Khawula said Zuma was an embarrassment to KwaZulu-Natal and to Zulu tradition because he filled his stomach while his neighbours were hungry.

IFP MP Narend Singh pointed out that ANC MPs had refused to take legal advice or call witnesses. He said the ANC deliberately crippled the process and quoted court judgments selectively.

- Timeslive