Zuma delays response on Nkandla report again

PRESIDENT Jacob Zuma has again delayed responding to Parliament about the R246m upgrade to his Nkandla home, despite his undertaking to do so to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Baleka Mbete.

Mr Zuma has echoed his undertaking in a letter to Parliament in March that he would wait for the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to complete its report on Nkandla before responding to the damning findings by Public Protector Thuli Madonsela.

Ms Madonsela found that Mr Zuma had inappropriately benefited from the upgrades and should repay some of the money.

Wednesday’s deadline is the second that Mr Zuma has missed. Ms Madonsela initially asked him to respond to her findings within 14 days but he missed that deadline, which was set for early April. He subsequently wrote to Ms Mbete saying he would wait for the SIU report to be completed. That 30-day deadline was missed on Wednesday.

Last week the head of the SIU, Vas Soni, told a parliamentary committee that he had only gained access to the Nkandla property a few days before and had answers outstanding from two people. He was unable to say how long it would now take to complete his report.

On Thursday Mr Zuma’s spokesman, Mac Maharaj, said in a statement that "President Jacob Zuma is still seized with preparing the report to the speaker on the upgrades at his Nkandla home, as undertaken to the speaker of the National Assembly".

The latest delay drew an angry response from Democratic Alliance MP James Selfe.

" More than three months later, Parliament has still not had a full explanation from the president," Mr Selfe said.

- BDLive