Public Protector Thuli Madonsela will not announce the release date of her final report on the R206 million security upgrades to President Jacob Zuma’s private residence at Nkandla in KwaZulu-Natal tomorrow.
There will not be an announcement this Sunday,” Madonsela’s spokesperson, Kgalalelo Masibi, said.
She told Saturday Citizen yesterday the delay is due to a request for an extension.
“The last input is expected on February 14 and the announcement will be made shortly thereafter,” she said.
It emerged last week that former police commissioner Bheki Cele could delay the release of the report on wasteful spending.
Cele had requested documents and asked for time to respond to Madonsela’s allegations that he failed to stop a splurge at Nkandla.
Madonsela is under heavy political pressure to release the final report on the upgrades.
The DA has once again requested the disclosure of the January 2013 Public Works task team report into Nkandla.
This follows the DA’s court application to the Western Cape High Court in November, after its application to gain access to the report in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act was rejected.
The court ruled the matter as urgent, to be heard on February 18.
DA parliamentary leader Lindiwe Mazibuko said the task team report, released by Cabinet in December 2013, showed certain discrepancies, which led her to conclude the report was re-written in a way that hides the nature and extent of any exclusions.
“The nature and extent of the differences between the December 2013 and January 2013 reports have never been revealed.”
Mazibuko questioned various aspects of the report, which included the date, reflected as December instead of January, when the report was originally compiled.
“The 19 December 2013 report gives no indication that it was an edited version of the January task team report,” she said.
Mazibuko pointed out that the continued attempts to delay the release of the Public Protector’s report is part of a plan to use the report as the “alternative” explanation for what transpired.
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