In January, Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi said the unit would be asked to investigate how the security costs for the Nkandla upgrades soared to over R200 million.
Nxesi said no government money had been spent on the cosmetic upgrade and that state funds were only used for security.
He said as a result, the SIU would investigate why that security cost so much.
But now the unit says it is still dealing with paperwork and confusion about whether the investigation could be covered by an earlier presidential proclamation.
The unit is slow to investigate as a result of the confusion as to whether the president will have to sign another proclamation.
The Public Works Department, however, said in its view this was covered by the earlier mandate.
If it does need a new mandate, Zuma himself would have to sign that document.
The Public Works Ministry said that once there was legal clarity, Nxesi would have to meet with Justice Minister Jeff Radebe to get a final sign-off for an investigation to be launched.
This means it could still be some time before the unit actually starts any probe into how over government money was spent on upgrades to the president’s KwaZulu-Natal homestead.
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