13 OFFICIALS ORDERED TO DESTROY NKANDLA RECORDS - REPORTS

Reports say 13 officials were ordered to make no personal notes or audio recordings of Nkandla meetings.

A total of 13 public works officials have reportedly been ordered by high ranking government officials, including ministers, to destroy any records of secret meetings on upgrades to President Jacob Zuma's Nkandla homestead.

In March, Public Protector Thuli Madonsela, released her Nkandla report and found that Zuma and his family unduly benefited from the R246 million upgrades to his KwaZulu-Natal home.

Madonsela also recommended that he pay back a portion of the money used in the Nkandla upgrades.

The City Press is reporting that the officials plan to expose instructions from their superiors to bypass tender procedures and take shortcuts from 2009 when construction on the homestead begun.

The newspaper says the officials were ordered to make no personal notes or audio recordings of the meetings.

The City Press reports that the 13 officials will demand that travel documents and itinerates of the ministers and officials be produced to prove they attended secret meetings on Nkandla construction.

The officials have apparently been set up to take the blame for the inflated prices but will fight back and expose direct orders linked to the president.

One of their allegations is that Zuma personally instructed the department to appoint the architect who has subsequently been asked to pay back more than R150 million.

Disciplinary hearings held by public works are expected to hear evidence from December until March next year.

 An aerial view of Nkandla taken in August 2013 which was taken by an aerial mapping company using a hi-tech, high-altitude mapping aircraft.

A 2010 aerial view of Nkandla taken off Google Earth.

Yesterday opposition parties issued a stern warning to the African National Congress (ANC) and to the president.

They said Zuma must be held accountable for the multi-million rand upgrades to his Nkandla residence.

Opposition Members of Parliament have promised to table their own report on the scandal before the end of this month as they believe the Nkandla ad-hoc committee is illegitimate.

The parties withdrew from the Parliamentary committee last week.

They wrangled over whether witnesses could be called to testify and whether the public protector's report on the upgrades should be enforced.

The parties also accused the ANC of destroying everything late former president Nelson Mandela stood for.

- EWN

Cape Town's dirty secret

Please click on these words to see the shit!

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Patricia de Lille ‏@PatriciaDeLille10h

In Khayelitsha with the national Deputy Minister of Human Settlements for the launch of Sanitation and Hygiene Week.

Zuma’s wife in hot water over renovations

President Jacob Zuma’s third wife, Thobeka Madiba-Zuma, who commissioned renovations to her
R8.8 million Durban North home without planning approval from the eThekwini Municipality, is to face rates penalties and might be forced to demolish illegal alterations to the house if her plans are not approved.

Two weeks ago the Sunday Tribune revealed that Madiba-Zuma’s opulent hilltop home, bought from former Springbok rugby captain Gary Teichmann, was being expanded to accommodate Madiba-Zuma and her two children.

The property was bought by the Madiba Family Trust in March last year and was transferred in August. Weeks later, construction crews started extensive renovations.

Madiba-Zuma’s neighbours complained that upgrades to the five-bedroomed home had seen large sections of roof removed and construction waste piling up in the driveway.

Madiba-Zuma said renovations to the house had stalled to obtain planning approval because the structure was more than 60 years old.

She added that the renovations did not entail expansions, but instead “followed recommendations by various professionals to cater for my family’s circumstances”.

However, aerial photographs clearly show extensive expansions to both the north and south-facing sides of the house, including the addition of rooms.

eThekwini Municipality development planning deputy head Musa Mbhele told the Sunday Tribune that renovations had started without the necessary planning approval and work halted at the site only after the building inspectorate served notices on Madiba-Zuma.

“The construction on site was identified as illegal by the building inspector. The owner has 30 days to submit a building plan for consideration,” he said.

“No building may take place on site until the building plan is approved. If construction takes place prior to approval of the building plan, the owner and the contractor may be liable for legal prosecution and further sanctions, such as a rates code change to increase the rates five times the value as a form of penalty for building and occupying a house illegally.”

Mbhele said if Madiba-Zuma continued to flout by-laws the city would take legal action, which could involve a court order to demolish the illegally constructed portions of the house.

Durban North Ratepayers Association chairwoman Irene Reid said the house was an “eyesore” after the renovations stalled early this year.

“It is cases like these we… have rooted out. It is an absolute eyesore. We do not want Durban North to end up looking a terrible state,” she said.

Reid added that Zuma had flouted the municipal by-laws that governed additions to residential properties.

“People these days just do what they want. I wouldn’t be surprised if the municipality is turning a blind eye to this just because she is one of the president’s wives.

“Neighbours and those who are unhappy with how the house looks need to put pressure on Mrs Zuma and submit objections to the municipality until something is done about this,” she said.

Madiba-Zuma could not be reached for comment this week.

According to publicly available documents, two loans from FNB totalling R8.15m were registered to buy the property.

If she paid a 10 percent deposit and additional costs and transfer fees, Madiba-Zuma would have had to furnish nearly R1.5m to apply for the bonds.

Monthly repayments on this bond, calculated at an interest rate of 8.5 percent, would cost more than R70 000 a month over 20 years.

According to court records, the Madiba Family Trust was founded in February last year, one month before the purchase of the Monteith Place property. Madiba-Zuma is the trust’s founder and the beneficiary is listed as her daughter, Nqobile Zuma.

Jacob Zuma’s lawyer Michael Hulley and Faith Ntombela are the other listed trustees.

Ntombela, an Ithala Development Bank employee, shared directorships with Madiba-Zuma in three companies, namely Lavender Sky Investments 25, Vautrade and Glenlyn Investments.

- Sunday Tribune

Santa's First Stop - Nkandla

Nation's Non-Existent Affordable Housing Programme

The government's recent demolition of houses in Lenasia, apart from anything else, has exposed how inadequate the state is at providing housing for those who neither qualify for bank mortgages, nor for RDP houses.

The Lenasia families seem to fall into the category of those who qualify for so-called "gap housing" on the basis that they earn between R2200 and about R7500 per month and can therefore afford to pay for their homes. However, gap housing is being rolled out at a snail's pace.

There is much fanfare in a city when a "gap" social housing project of 100 or 200 units is unveiled. But these projects only happen about once a year. Many are not built close to the city and some look little better than the national government's upgraded RDP houses, or "Breaking New Ground" dwellings, even though they are much more expensive to buy or rent.

There is clearly a growing number of people who can't afford market-related bonds but who can raise capital of up to R150 000 to buy land, as they did in Lenasia, where they were unfortunately taken advantage of by fraudsters.

However, there is nowhere for this growing group of people to go when they want to stop renting and start buying homes. Like the poor who often find themselves waiting years for a tiny RDP house, potential gap market homeowners are falling through the cracks.

Government claims that it would be impossibly expensive for it to roll out a programme that would actually deliver a house to everyone who needs a home. By this they mean that they would prefer to spend public money on arms deals, subsidies and rebates to private corporations, and lately nuclear power and upgrades to the presidential home at Nkandla. It seems obvious that if there are people who can afford to pay for land or for a portion of a home, that government should be working with these people and not against them.

However, government has failed to develop a proper social housing programme, which could deliver to people who seem capable of raising funds to get onto the property ladder, as the Lenasia case has demonstrated.

A social and gap housing project could consist of government rezoning and then selling vacant state land to people who can afford to buy land and build their own houses, or partnering with non-profit organisations to build 'mixed-income' developments where the poor and not so poor live side by side. In some countries, such a programme involves building housing developments and then selling a 25% share in the home to someone who then purchases the rest of the shares over time.

There is no such national programme in South Africa.

The government's current "gap" housing programme consists of different projects by the municipalities (all involving delivering very tiny numbers of gap houses every year). There are a few scattered partnerships with non-profit companies here and there. But the combined result of these projects is not making a dent in South Africa's housing problem.

Government has set up a Social Housing Regulatory Authority, whose mandate is to "regulate and invest to deliver affordable rental homes and renew communities". Their strategic plan for the next five years is to approve the building of an average of 5,434 social housing "units" per year. Given that there is a housing backlog of millions, these 5,434 units are a drop in the ocean. Since the authority only approved the building of just over 1000 units last year, even this might be over-optimistic. It also doesn't help people who would prefer to spend their money on buying a home rather than renting. It really is not clear whether the Social Housing Regulatory Authority intends to raise its game and start delivering to the millions of people who currently make up the "gap market".

Government's insistence on privatised housing delivery is as much of an obstacle to it providing gap housing as it has been to RDP housing. The private companies hired by government don't only build poor quality houses for the poor; they also build bad houses and flats for the gap market.

The N2 Gateway flats in Langa, Cape Town were supposed to be a flagship demonstration of the future of social housing in South Africa - built for working people who could afford to pay about R600 per month rent. But when these flats were handed over, residents found to their dismay that costs had been cut to such an extent that 28 units could be opened with one key. Just months later, the flats started leaking and cracking. The renters moved out and the only people who eventually benefitted were the private companies involved in building the flats.

Human Settlements minister Tokyo Sexwale has been saying for over 18 months that he is considering setting up a state housing company to speed up delivery and get money-making private companies out of the picture, but these plans are not progressing beyond talk.

Sexwale has also said that there should be a cut off date for the provision of free housing. And his "each one, settle one" campaign launched at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange 15 months ago, where he called upon "captains of industry" to build houses, has also not taken off. He has made several different and conflicting announcements about the future of housing in South Africa, which does not bode well for anyone seeking either an RDP or a gap house.

Meanwhile, working people are continuing to reject the high-priced free market rental system and look for ways to use their money wisely to build their own homes. In Cape Town, the backyard residents of Mandela Park near Khayelitsha were promised 80 plots of land by the Western Cape MEC for Human Settlements, Bonginkosi Madikizela, in 2010. This promise has still not been fulfilled. In the meantime, residents there have cut through the red tape and spent up to R40 000 each building proper houses on the land.

From time to time, Western Cape government officials arrive on the scene and mark their houses for demolition. The tragedy is that this land was earmarked for those residents anyway - the residents are also doing government a favour by spending their own money on building their houses instead of staying in backyards where they could have demanded more free services. Due to the fact that their houses are not being recognised by the state, Mandela Park is another Lenasia just waiting to happen.

Having a home is the first step towards ushering in some certainty in people's lives. It is the foundation for the development of a stable and secure society. Do our leaders not see this?

- allAfrica

Nkandla scandal continues

CAPE TOWN - The Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Monday President Jacob Zuma admitted that the National Key Point Act processes were not followed in the construction of his Nkandla home.

DA Parliamentary Leader Lindiwe Mazibuko said Zuma also revealed he did not receive a notification that the site had been declared a National Key Point, as is required by Section 3 of the National Key Point Act of 1980.

Zuma provided a written reply to Mazibuko's parliamentary question on the controversial development.

She said the flouting of the Act's processes is evidence that it was used to hide details of the upgrade costing more than R250 million.

“We are going to ask further questions to the ministers of police and defence to establish what they are doing to get this money back from President Zuma. He owes the South African people R250 million for this upgrade.”

DA leaders slammed Nkandla at its at a party congress in Boksburg last month and claimed they will soon be taking over Gauteng.

- Eyewitness News

Tutu slams Nkandla, govt

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu has criticised the expansion of President Jacob Zuma's home in Nklandla, it was reported on Wednesday.

"Who in their right minds could have approved the expenditure of more than R200m? And to do it in that area, where you have this nice place standing up and just around there the squalor and poverty," said Tutu.

"What is the matter with us?"

The Star newspaper reported that Tutu was speaking at the unveiling of a bench and tree in memory of struggle stalwart Kader Asmal at the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens on Saturday.

A video of the event was shown to reporters on Tuesday.

He told National Planning Minister Trevor Manuel, who attended the event: "You don't belong in this government."

Tutu expressed concern about the state of education, the failure to deliver textbooks in Limpopo earlier this year and the recently released results of the National Assessments, which showed that Grade 9 maths pupils scored on average 13%.

"Trevor, you tell your boss this old man who said he was retired, I am going to come back.

"You tell him that this old man is now going to pray like he prayed for the Nats [the National Party, which enforced apartheid]."

Zuma's private residence has recently been upgraded, at a reported cost of R200m. The matter is currently being investigated by a public works task team.

- SAPA

Welcome to Zumaville

First full view of the massive complex that has South Africans up in arms

There is only one way to get a full view of President Jacob Zuma’s palatial private home at Nxamalala village near Nkandla in Zululand: from the air.

From the P15 – the new road linking Nkandla to Kranskop and passing through Nxamalala – there is only a one-dimensional, partial view of the Zuma complex, which recently underwent a R248 million “security upgrade”, courtesy of the taxpayer.

So City Press decided to take to the air this week to photograph the ever-expanding Zuma compound.

Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi disputed the R248 million figure this week, but wouldn’t say what the state had spent on Zuma’s private residence.

Zuma told Parliament that he and his family paid for his new houses.

Construction is estimated to have cost the president between R10 million and R20 million.

Several critics have pointed out that Zuma would struggle to pay for this alone, given his more than R2 million annual salary and his history of bad debt.

This was amplified by the Mail & Guardian on Friday, which published the previously unreleased 2006 KPMG forensic report into Zuma’s financial affairs.

The report had not been released after Zuma’s corruption charges were controversially dropped in 2009.

The security perimeter fence, which encloses the family complex and the several dozen buildings constructed as part of the security upgrade, is set slightly away from the road.

The complex flows around and up the hillside, with several features, including a helipad, sitting at a level where they can’t be seen from below.

Other buildings, including the more than 20 rondavel-style houses for Zuma’s personnel, are tucked away from view by a bend in the road.

So are the two Astroturf football pitches on the Kranskop-facing side of the estate.

The topography of the area means that there is no hill or high ground from which to view or photograph the entire complex.

This week, we shot pictures which, for the first time, give readers a chance to view the complex, which in the past few years has grown exponentially since its humble beginnings in the early 1990s, when Zuma returned from exile.

Flying west from Eshowe towards Kranskop, the complex looks more like a game lodge than someone’s house.

It stretches across the hillside, with a circle of houses used by Zuma and his wives at the centre.

The growth of the compound has been astounding. When we set foot inside the complex in 2006, there was a simple wire fence around the houses used by the family and a single police post.

By the time of the 2009 inauguration party at Nxamalala, there was still little in the way of security.

According to official Public Works documentation, construction started towards the end of 2009.

Around the family houses, there are several large buildings believed to be the clinic and gymnasium built for the family’s use, and a reception facility for visitors.

All the buildings have the same thatched roofs and are painted in the same colour.

There are no visible entrances for the bunker and the underground parking areas.

Since City Press first exposed the massive amounts of public money spent on the estate by the department of public works through its prestige portfolio, there has been a discussion about how best to illustrate what the money was spent on.

There were no pre-existing aerial pictures and all the satellite images available predated Nkandlagate.

Although Zuma’s office and the department of public works have maintained that the residence was indeed declared a national key point, the police have so far refused to provide proof of this.

- Citypress

zumaville1eb

Zuma payments: Of battleships and Nkandla

The financing of the Nkandla project makes it clear that Jacob Zuma's home is built on shaky foundations of friends and would-be favours.

Jacob Zuma's Nkandla ­homestead was born in arms-deal sin. The ongoing saga of the construction, financing and outfitting of the president's rural seat captures the mixture of chaos, influence and excess that seems to characterise Zuma's relationship with money – and with his many benefactors.

And, of course, the story of Nkandla also weaves in the thick strand of graft introduced by the notorious "encrypted fax", which alleged that Zuma and Schabir Shaik had concluded a secret bribe agreement with French defence company Thomson-CSF.

Read more on the 'kept politician'

Zuma corruption: South Africans have a right to know

Secret report reveals how millions flowed to Zuma 

Banks bent over backwards for Zuma

All the president's willing benefactors: Part one

All the president's willing benefactors: Part two

The history of the Nkandla development set out in the report by audit firm KPMG prepared for Zuma's trial is striking for how many people were involved in paying for it before the president spent a cent.

It was Zuma's close friend, Mpumulanga businessperson Nora Fakude-Nkuna, who first approached architects on his behalf in February 2000 and it was her company, Bohlabela Wheels, that  paid the R34 200 bill.

Indeed, it is a mystery how Zuma expected to be able to pay for the project at all, because his monthly living expenses were already more than double his monthly income – unless, of course, he was expecting a new cash injection.

That is the view KPMG takes of the meeting between Zuma, Shaik and Thomson's South African boss, Alain Thetard, which took place on about March 10 2000 in Durban.

The meeting was captured in Thetard's March 17 2,000 encrypted fax to his bosses in Paris setting out what transpired.

Thetard wrote that he had asked Shaik to obtain a "clear confirmation" from Zuma, or "at least an encoded declaration" to "validate" a request made by Shaik at the end of September 1999.

Thetard indicated that he had defined a code and Zuma had given  the coded confirmation.

Thetard reminded his bosses of the two main objectives of the "effort" they were being asked to make: "Thomson-CSF's protection during the current [arms deal] investigation" and "JZ's permanent support for future projects". An "effort" of R500 000 a year was indicated.

Shaik told his trial this meeting was about a donation to Zuma's charitable education trust, an explanation rejected by the court. In February 2003, Zuma denied to Parliament such a meeting had taken place.

In any event, Zuma's builder, Eric Malengret, started on the Nkandla project in about July 2000. The agreed price was R1340 000.

Events proceeded as follows:

August 14 2000  R100 000 sourced from Bohlabela and Fakude-Nkuna is deposited to Malengret's company account by Zuma's nephew, Kusa;

October 4 2000 R40 000 more arrives from Bohlabela;

October 6 2000 Shaik writes to Thetard regarding "the subject matter agreed by ourselves in Pretoria … Several months later no real action. I share the sentiment with my party that he feels let down." Shaik adds that this is "particularly unpleasing" as "my party" had "proceeded to an advanced stage on a certain sensitive matter";

October 17 2000 – former president Nelson Mandela's R2-million cheque lands in Zuma's account. On the same date Zuma, apparently by agreement with Mandela, issues a cheque for R1-million to Zuma's charitable education trust;

October 18 2000   an unidentified person, named only as "Sew", deposits R50 000 in notes to Malengret's account for Nkandla. The same day, Shaik transfers R900 000 out of Zuma's account to settle some of Zuma's debt to the Nkobi group. An amount of R100 000 is left to reduce Zuma's overdraft. Shaik is apparently un-aware that the R1-million is intended for the Development Africa Trust;

October 19 2000 Shaik confirms in writing his instruction to Malengret the previous day to halt construction on the Nkandla residence. Malengret later testified that Shaik had exclaimed: "Does he [Zuma] think money grows on trees?";

November 2000  Vivian Reddy enters the scene, lending Malengret R50 000 to ease his cash-flow problems owing to Zuma's tardiness in reimbursing him for work completed;

December 6 2000  Zuma tries to write a cheque for R1-million in favour of the Development Africa Trust, ­apparently unaware that Shaik has moved the funds;

December 7 2000 Shaik instructs the bank to stop payment of the Zuma cheque, but now presumably realises he needs to repay Development Africa;

December 8 2000  Shaik faxes to Thetard an application form for a  "service provider agreement" involving four tranches of R250 000. The Shaik trial later ruled the agreement was a sham to disguise payments from Thomson. In his covering letter, Shaik writes: "Kindly expedite our arrangement as soon as possible, as matters are becoming extremely urgent with my client";

February 16 2001 R249 725 from Thomson is deposited into Shaik's Kobitech company account;

February 28 2001 A Kobitech cheque for R250 000 is deposited with Development Africa. Shaik issues three more postdated cheques for R250 000, but they are eventually stopped. Shaik repays Development Africa only much later;

October 9 2001 The Scorpions launch search raids in Durban, France and Mauritius;

June 7 2002  Zuma applies to FNB for a bond for Nkandla, assisted by Reddy;

December 12 2002 FNB confirms to Reddy that the bond over the property has been registered in an amount of R900 000;

January 25 2003  The first debit order to service the FNB bond is debited against Reddy's account for an amount of R12 117;

June 2 2005  Shaik is convicted of corruption;

June 14 2005 Mbeki fires Zuma as deputy president;

June 20 2005 the National Prosecuting Authority announces it will charge Zuma;

June 23 2005 Mandela ­transfers R1-million to Zuma; and

June 25 2005  Zuma makes his first bond payment for Nkandla.

- M&G

SA has never had a government for the people

We have spent almost two decades “fixing” the wrongs of the “past”.

In truth, it seems that we have never had a government for the people, by the people in South Africa. We started off before the VOC rocked up with their little ships, with an inland turmoil that bordered on successful genocide. Africa’s always been a bit of a rough continent, hasn’t it?

I am not going to walk you through the last 300-and-something years. 

I am, frankly, pretty tired of having the past shoved down someone’s throat, either the survivors of the Anglo Boer war when I was a child, who still looked at English speaking South Africans with mistrust, or the youth, who scream having been wronged in a time before they were even conceived.

What is done, is done, and unless we figure out how we are going to live tomorrow and the day after, the past won’t make one bit of difference to any of us.

Our government blames white farmer murders on the whites, it shoves Malema down our throats with big show, to distract us from the real crisis going on in this country – it’s being robbed blind, raped and left for dead. 

Before we can say a thing, the implementation of Agenda 21 dictates that the e-tolls must go forward – out government signed the paperwork. Before we can protest, our money is spent on the biggest load of self-serving enrichment a government has ever thought up.

No – it’s not just Nkandla, it’s the “freebie” highway that leads to it.

No, it’s not just Jacob’s embarrassing the country with his “it’s my culture” stance, it’s the cost of his lifestyle added to his ignorance, that not only infuriates, but costs lives.

Isn’t this what the entire struggle was about? Trying to fix this garbage?

When I was a kid and the Yes/No Referendum came along, I had no way to have an opinion of my own: my folks’ opinions shaped my own.

As I grew up, I learned that our family straddled the dream of a segregated South Africa, with reactionaries on both ends of the spectrum. It’s never been an easy deduction for me to figure out where they really stand, and what they really want…  I just want a place where I can live, where I have the same opportunities as the guy next to me, regardless of our race, colour, crede, religion, gender, orientation - I want the choices I make in life to be my own.

I want the freedom to decide how I want to spend my time, and my energy. I want the same for you. I want you to be able to choose the life you want. I want you to be able to choose the opportunities you wish to grab, and I want you to be able to find a place of peace, safety and love with the people you want close to you. It’s simple.

Nothing anybody believes or wants is important enough to take a life, or to start a war.

No government has the right to tell any citizen that it’s a second class one. Ever.

Regardless of whether it’s based on race or gender or orientation or religion or culture. A government is supposed to – in its purest form, be a communal kitty and administrative organiaation, that adds the bits and pieces of contributions of time and energy and resources, to build infrastructure for the upkeep of the health, safety and economic growth of the people it serves.

Our government is so far removed from that, that the thing we have heading our country is not even in the same species. The problem isn’t just here. The problem is everywhere. 

I do not believe that it is the government’s business to keep a record of my gender or my colour. Nor is it any of their business to track where I live, what phone I use, or where I travel on the roads. I am a free person. My likes, dislikes, beliefs and decisions, my very movements are not subject to their approval, unless I am harming the rights of another person.

I do not believe it is the right of a government to demand any percentage of my income or earnings to enrich itself, or even to cross-subsidise someone else who doesn’t work.

Would it not make sense to allow people to keep 95% of their earnings rather than 30-odd% (add your personal tax, and company tax, and VAT, and petrol tax, and “sin” tax, and road tax, and import tax… and tell me how much you should be earning!), so that they can grow their business, and employ more people?

Is that not the simple answer?

I move for a vote of no confidence in our entire government.  In the way we educate our children.  In the way we structure industry and commerce.

I call on the people to stand up ,even though we are exhausted and afraid for our safety. Even if we’ve just finished having this conversation with the previous nut trying to order us around.

Stand up – not against each other, but in harmony, in choosing to be one nation, regardless of where we were born, or what race we were born into, or how deep our parents’ pockets were filled with emptiness or abundance.

I’m not interested in the past anymore. And I’m not interested in how things are done.  I want a new way. A bloodless way. A harmonious way.

And if you are just trying to get through the day, and the week, and make ends meet, and have a life worth looking back on with your loved ones, maybe you are too.

- timeslive

Nkandlagate: Zuma benefits from Apartheid

A piece of legislation dating from the apartheid security state stands in the way of the public finding out how much they are paying for Nkandla.

Takeing pictures of President Jacob Zuma's residential complex in Nkandla from a public road and police officials – including VIP guards at the gate of the compound – will be helpful. But try to take photographs of a sign at the entrance of a power station in Limpopo, and security guards are bound to get aggressive.

Such are the vagaries in the application of the National Key Points Act of 1980, a piece of legislation dating from the apartheid security state that, according to the department of public works, stands in the way of accounting to taxpayers about spending at Nkandla.

But the law finds its strangest and most inconsistent application in the lack of concern government officials have shown in disclosing details of security at nuclear sites, while claiming that any release of rand amounts in the Nkandla controversy would be illegal, as would releasing audit reports relating to such spending.

That assertion will be tested again in coming weeks, when Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi receives a report on the Nkandla prestige project from an internal task team. Nxesi this week again stressed that the findings would be made public, but would not commit to releasing the full report.

In October, the acting director general in his department, Mandisa Fatyela-Lindie, said she would face criminal prosecution if she had released Nkandla numbers, despite claiming a document she had delivered to Parliament that costed the Zuma homestead work at R248-million could not exist.

That is a remarkably harsh interpretation of a law that others have taken far less seriously in the past.

Spirited prosecution

In 2006, the then minister of trade and industry, Alec Erwin, claimed a loose bolt that shut down the Koeberg nuclear reactor was an act of sabotage. Although he may not ultimately have been found guilty of a criminal offence, that statement would have been enough for a spirited prosecution; the National Key Points Act sets very strict conditions under which "any occurrence arising out of or relating to terroristic activities, sabotage, espionage or subversion" at a key point may be mentioned.

In early 2011, a security company published details of the solution it had sold to the Nuclear Energy Corporation of South Africa, down to the model numbers of biometric access readers at gates in Pelindaba, the nuclear complex near Hartbeespoort dam. The Key Points Act specifically outlaws the release of "any information relating to security measures" at sites designated under it.

Similar information has been released for other sites classified as key points, though of arguably less importance, such as airports.

In 2012, however, amid the furore around Nkandla, even a list of key points is considered too sensitive to release. In mid-November a formal application by the Right2Know campaign for such a list was denied by the police because providing it "will impact negatively on and jeopardise the operational strategy and tactics used to ensure security at the relevant property or safety of an individual".

The campaign plans to launch an appeal to that denial under the Promotion of Access to Information Act within days, but is already considering the subsequent court action that is likely to follow a second refusal.

Technical details

"We expect they'll tell us 'no' around Christmas time, and that we'll launch a court application sometime in January," said national spokesperson Murray Hunter. "We are very prepared to litigate on this."

Last week the M&G Centre for Investigative Journalism (AmaBhungane) followed exactly that route after an application for information relating to the presidential development at Nkandla to the department of public works was denied. Though the information request, first lodged in July, specifically excludes technical details of security measures, the department first said it could not comply, then ignored a subsequent appeal.

Although the Right2Know application deals broadly with key points and their administration, the AmaBhungane appeal is specific to Zuma's homestead and documents relating to a needs assessment and the process and value of contracts awarded.

Such information is protected because the Nkandla site is a key point, the department of public works said in its initial refusal.

If that is the case, the M&G centre argues in its papers, Zuma himself may be criminally liable for revealing, in Parliament, that security upgrades included bullet-proof windows and a bunker. If not, it said, then Zuma's disclosures show "that even the president must be of the view that there is no legal obstacle to revealing details about what has been procured" for the development.

The sites you are not allowed to know about

An official list of national keypoints is a risk to national security, according to the government’s interpretation of the law. But in their day-to-day business, ministers, their departments and parastatal organisations seem not at all loath to disclose the status of some such points. A combination of speeches and documents delivered in Parliament, government and parastatal tenders, court documents, job adverts and organisation websites, all publicly available, makes possible at least a partial list of installations that carry the keypoint classification.

They include:

• The Union Buildings;
• Koeberg, and possibly all other power stations;
• Pelindaba, the nuclear research facility near Brits;
• OR Tambo, Cape Town and Durban airports;
• The Reserve Bank building in Pretoria;
• Eskom’s national control centre;
• The national control centre for the electronic national administration traffic information system (eNaTIS);
• The proposed core site for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) telescope in the Karoo;
• The government printing works responsible for the manufacture of documents such as passports;
• Various Denel properties, including an ammunition factory;
• Various properties where private company AECI manufactures explosives;
• Certain sections of Onderstepoort, where biological research is done; and
• Storage sections of the Durban harbour.
• Also presumed to be included – though this cannot be confirmed – are post offices, police stations, transmitters and a wide range of government buildings.

How many national key points are there? That too is apparently confidential, perhaps to the extent of obfuscation in their administration to prevent anyone from extrapolating the number. A single regulatory filing by the Airports Company South Africa notes the “National Key Point numbers” for its facilities, with OR Tambo as 00078 and Cape Town airport as 00047. King Shaka airport near Durban, however, carries the number 013332000, which would prevent anyone with access to that number to deduce how many other sites carry the classification.

- M&G

Nkandla: who will take the fall?

Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi has given the clearest indication yet that some of his department’s officials will take the rap for the R248 million Nkandlagate scandal.

He told Kaya FM host John Perlman during an on-air interview on Thursday: “It is clear in this case that people went over the budget.”

It was the first time Nxesi had spoken out about what may have gone wrong with the exorbitant upgrades at President Jacob Zuma’s rural homestead at KwaNxamalala after initially setting his aim on whistle-blowers.

Nxesi also announced that an internal Public Works investigation into Nkandlagate will be concluded in the next week and that its findings will be made public.

At the same time, it has emerged that the two main contractors on the project – Bonelena Construction and Moneymine Enterprises – may have contravened the construction industry’s regulations by performing work for which they were not qualified.

City Press previously revealed that the two companies were awarded work worth R99 million (Bonelena) and R61 million (Moneymine) respectively on the Nkandla project.

Bonelena owner Thandeka Nene disputed the R99 million figure, but wouldn’t say how much her company was paid.

All construction companies in South Africa are registered and graded by the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) according to size and capacity.

Bonelena has a grade 7 general building (potentially emerging) rating, which means it is only allowed to do work up to the value of R40 million.

But the regulations do provide for emerging companies to be given work higher than their grading if the client (Public Works in this instance) is satisfied that the contractor has the potential to develop and provide financial and management assistance to the company.

The Pietermaritzburg High Court liquidated Bonelena in July this year.

Moneymine has a grade 6 general building (potentially emerging) rating, which means it can only be given contracts worth up to R13 million, or a maximum of R40 million if Public Works approves.

Any Public Works official who awards tenders contrary to the industry’s regulations will be guilty of an offence and is liable to a fine not exceeding R100 000, says CIDB spokesperson Kotli Molise.

The Nkandla upgrade forms part of the department’s prestige portfolio, which is also the subject of a corruption investigation by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU).

Nxesi and his department has been under great pressure to explain how R248 million was spent on “security upgrades” at Zuma’s home that included the building of a clinic for Zuma’s use; a tuckshop for security guards; a cattle culvert (tunnel) and the relocation of three families.

The minister told Perlman it was “very clear” the prices charged for the Nkandla upgrades were “questionable”. He slammed the building industry, saying it was “likely you will be exploited”.

“In some instances we sit with this situation of these tenderpreneurs who are running many projects, running from one project to the other without completing a project.”

Nxesi said the public had the right to be angry about the cost of the Nkandla upgrade, but must give him a chance to complete his investigation.

Asked by Perlman if the state would have to do similar upgrades if Zuma chooses to move to another residence, Nxesi said yes. “Unfortunately, according to the laws, we have to do that if he chooses to do that.”

But, added the minister, Zuma should be “appreciated” for choosing to live in a rural area “with the poor people”.

- City Press

ZumaGates: OH, BROTHER!

AN electrical company has revealed that taxpayers' money allocated for the R248-million upgrade of President Jacob Zuma's Nkandla home has been used to pay for renovations to the homes of his two brothers, which are not even on the estate.

In documents seen by the Sunday Times, Michael and Joseph Zuma are listed as having had supplies by electrical company Voltex delivered to their homes as part of the "prestige project" - as the Department of Public Works has dubbed the Nkandla upgrade.

Invoices for the work by the Durban-based company were submitted to a building contractor involved in the Nkandla project and have been laid bare in papers before the High Court in Durban.

Voltex went to court to recoup R545,249 it says was owed by contractor Pamela Mfeka. She was awarded a reported R47.6-million contract by the Department of Public Works to construct six buildings in Nkandla.

According to the court papers, Mfeka, 46, defaulted on the payments for electrical cables and other goods supplied for Zuma's luxury compound and his brothers' modest homesteads in Nxamalala village.

Michael denied that any work had been done to his or his brother's home.

"There is no project here," he said.

Yesterday, presidential spokes-man Mac Maharaj failed to respond to the Sunday Times after requesting written questions.

"I can't just comment off the top of my head," he said.

The court papers contain numerous invoices, dated between November 3 2011 and November 3 2012, in which Voltex billed Mfeka's company, Moneymine Enterprises, for electrical products bought for Michael's and Joseph's homes, as well as the upgrade of Zuma's homestead.

Several of the invoices refer to the prestige project, while some list the name of the village, Nxamalala, where all three homesteads are situated.

Amounts on the more than 30 invoices varied from R125 to R27565. One of the bills, dated November 30 2011, showed an amount of R3915 for electrical goods for Michael's home.

Other invoices contained pricing codes for a variety of electrical and lighting products.

The matter was scheduled to be heard on Friday, but a settlement agreement was reached early in the day between the parties' lawyers.

Mfeka evaded questions from the Sunday Times. Her husband, Bongani, said: "I gave her your number about 15 minutes ago, and she said she is going to call you. Let me phone her now so she can call you."

Mfeka's company was one of several awarded multimillion-rand tenders.

According to the court papers, Moneymine entered into an agreement with Voltex last year to purchase goods between November 3 2011 and April 11 2012. The agreed payment date was no later than May 11 2012.

Two months ago, the Sunday Times reported how another contractor, Thandeka Nene's Bonelela Construction, was liquidated after the Department of Public Works failed to pay her over R8-million for work at Zuma's home, including the construction of a private clinic.

This week, the Sunday Times established that two of the contracts given to Mfeka's company for the Nkandla upgrade, and described as "Durban prestige project phase 2 - high security area", were awarded on February 11 and June 11 last year.

Mfeka also owns Igugu Consulting, a company that provides human resources services and hosts corporate functions. She has several other companies that have raked in millions from government projects.

Voltex's lawyer, Simon Chetwynd-Palmer, could not be reached for comment yesterday.

- timeslive

Nkandla was 'over budget': Nxesi

Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi has admitted that the security upgrade of President Jacob Zuma's home in Nkandla, KwaZulu-Natal, has gone over budget, the City Press reported on Sunday.

"It is clear in this case that people went over the budget," Nxesi reportedly told Kaya FM host John Perlman on Thursday.

He reportedly said an internal public works investigation into the upgrade would be concluded next week, and that the findings would be made public.

Nxesi told Perlman it was "very clear" the prices charged for the upgrade were "questionable". He blamed the building industry, and said it was "likely you will be exploited".

He said the public had the right to be upset about the cost of the upgrade -- reportedly about R250 million -- but should give his department a chance to investigate.

Zuma told Parliament last month the government was paying to upgrade the security at his home, but that he had taken out a bond to pay for the rest of the upgrade.

- timeslive

ZumaGate: Brother’s homes part of ‘package’

Taxpayers money has allegedly been used to pay for renovations to the homes of President Jacob Zuma's two brothers, the Sunday Times reported.

Michael and Joseph Zuma allegedly had supplies by electrical company Voltex delivered to their homes as part of the “prestige project”, according to the newspaper.

The information was submitted in court papers filed by Voltex in the High Court in Durban.

Voltex went to the court to recoup R545 249 it says it is owed by building contractor Pamela Mfeka. She was allegedly awarded a R47,6 million contract by the department of Public Works to construct six buildings in Nkandla.

The newspaper said according to the court papers, Mfeka had defaulted on the payment for electrical cables and other goods supplied for Zuma's home as well as his brothers'.

Michael denied that any work had been done to either his home or Joseph's.

There is no project here,” he told the newspaper. - Sapa

Cape Town is ready to be the World Design Capital in 2014

If I had to reflect for a moment on what the city I am proud to lead would look like if we had to design and build it from scratch, it would probably look very different. 

But even though Cape Town, like all South African cities, has a particular history, we are not the only city that might have designed itself differently. 

With few exceptions, the modern city has risen largely out of necessity, being added to or made more complex by the needs of the moment. 

This is an issue that still confronts us, especially with the pressures of urbanisation and the global shift towards cities becoming major drivers of economic growth. 

Living with these historical realities and daily challenges, we are left with cities that are often far from perfect. 

But that is the beauty of innovation. 

It is the beauty of design. 

We know we are moving in the right direction to get to our ideal. 

Or at least, we are designing our city, in as much as we can, working with what we have, in order to do so. 

For me, this is the central thesis of the City of Cape Town’s approach to the World Design Capital 2014: Excellence in design is using what you have to realise what you want. 

It is designing the change we want to see in our city using the very building blocks of which our city is comprised. 

It is these realities that help us focus on the outcomes we want to see for 2014. 

Ours is, in relative global terms of population and economic power, a mid-size city at the tip of Africa. 

We have incredible advantages, especially in terms of our geographical location and our relative competitive advantage in terms of infrastructure. 

But we also face the same challenges as many developing-world cities. 

These challenges include urbanisation, growing population sizes, urban decay and ever present socio-economic pressures. 

But in as much as we feel the effects of these challenges, our city is faced with another difficulty. 

That is, the problem of apartheid spatial planning. 

The emphasis of apartheid was placed on separating people physically. 

Indeed, this was the most direct action of decades of social engineering. 

And as such, we have a city that still bears the strong legacy of racial separation, as do all cities in South Africa. 

While we are aware that the reality of divided cities is not unique to our country, there is a very particular racial dimension to these divisions that is. 

While many cities have felt the effects of bad planning, or class divisions, or a lack of transport options, we do live with the effects of an unjust policy of physical separation of individuals according to race. 

And that is what I find so exciting about design. 

I find the possibility of exploring truly innovative ways to change our city, and its artificial divisions, exciting. 

While it is true that apartheid has been gone for two decades, we still have a lot of work to do in eradicating its legacy. 

We are doing everything we can to change our city every day, from major investments in public transportation and broadband infrastructure to rolling out the most expansive public works programme in the country. 

However, we have to complement these large-scale interventions with the innovative solutions that design can bring to change cities. 

Click picture for Cannabrick design

Whether it is the design of new housing structures for lower-income groups; to facilities for the urbanising population joining us in search of a better life; to amenities that creatively bring people together across old boundaries, design can truly change our city. 

In conclusion, we need to harness the creative potential of design and bring people together to help us find solutions by unleashing the energy of being the World Design Capital for 2014. 

Then we can speak with a new honesty when we say: live design, transform life. 

In conclusion, using these principles, and the realisation that design is based on organic networks of change that transform the city, not centralised plans, I believe we can transform Cape Town. 

Our structures are in place, our people are ready and our city is waiting. 

Cape Town is ready to be the World Design Capital in 2014. 

- Mayor Partica de Lille