HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The private residence of former South African
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Jacob Zuma Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (; born 12 April 1942) is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan name Msholozi, and was a former anti-aparth ...
is situated about south of the rural town of Nkandla in
KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...
and is commonly referred to as the Nkandla homestead. During Zuma's presidency, the homestead was the subject of a major public controversy, sometimes referred to as Nkandlagate, concerning what were ostensibly security upgrades to Zuma's compound, at a cost of over R246 million. The use of public funds to make these improvements (including a controversial firepool) received significant media coverage and political opposition. A report of the
Public Protector The Public Protector in South Africa is one of six independent state institutions set up by the country's Constitution to support and defend democracy. According to Section 181 of the Constitution: * These institutions are independent, and subje ...
found that Zuma unduly benefited from these improvements and the
Constitutional Court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ...
subsequently found that Zuma's non-compliance with the report constituted a violation of the country's
Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...
. Zuma ultimately apologised for using public money to improve his private residence and in April 2016 he was asked to resign by prominent public figures, including anti-apartheid activist
Ahmed Kathrada Ahmed Mohamed Kathrada (21 August 1929 – 28 March 2017), sometimes known by the nickname "Kathy", was a South African politician and anti-apartheid activist. Kathrada's involvement in the anti-apartheid activities of the African National Con ...
, due to the scandal. In line with the Constitutional Court's judgement, Zuma repaid the state for the non-security upgrades – priced at R7.81 million by the
National Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or in ...
– in September 2016.


Property and upgrades

The compound is situated on Nxamalala Farm in the rural region of
Nkandla, KwaZulu-Natal Nkandla is a town in the uThungulu district of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is the seat of the Nkandla Local Municipality, and the district in which the residence of the former President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, is located. The residence i ...
, where President
Jacob Zuma Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (; born 12 April 1942) is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan name Msholozi, and was a former anti-aparth ...
was born and raised. The land is owned by the
Ingonyama Trust The Ingonyama Trust is a corporate entity established to administer the land traditionally owned by the Zulu people, represented by their king, for the benefit, material welfare and social well-being of the Zulu nation, who continue to occupy the l ...
, which, through
Zulu King This article lists the Zulu monarchs, including chieftains and kings of the Zulu royal family from their earliest known history up to the present time. Pre-Zulu The Zulu King lineage stretches to as far as Luzumana, who is believed to have li ...
Misuzulu kaZwelithini, administers KwaZulu-Natal's traditional lands on behalf of the state for the benefit of its occupants."Zuma doesn't own Nkandla compound"
(2012-10-05) ''News24''
Zuma's property comprises 3.83
hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is a ...
s. In 2008, according to Zuma, Zuma's family undertook a private construction project, using personal funds, to improve the homestead and build three new houses. In May 2009, pursuant to the 2009 general election, Zuma was
elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a populatio ...
President of South Africa The president of South Africa is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of South Africa. The president heads the executive branch of the Government of South Africa and is the commander-in-chief of the South African Nationa ...
, and – in terms of a
Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...
policy instituted under Zuma's predecessor – a process immediately began to assess and improve security measures at the President's private residences. As part of this process, the South African Department of Public Works & Infrastructure (DPWI) built a helipad, underground bunkers, security and their accommodation, a firepool, a chicken-run, and fencing around the entire complex. According to the ministerial handbook, the department can spend R100,000 on security improvements at the private houses of public officials. Any costs above that must be covered by the official. Over R200,000,000 has appeared to be allocated by the department. The controversial firepool that was built is described as being part of "questionable security renovations". Statements by spokesmen have mentioned an apartheid-era law, the National Key Points Act, as explanation for the spending discrepancy, but that spending should come from a different department. The leaked documentation also hints at vastly inflated prices for the work done, much of it not going out to tender, and huge consulting fees."Nkandla prices a joke" (10 November 2012) ''City Press''
/ref>


Nkandlagate

The initial story was uncovered by the ''
Mail & Guardian The ''Mail & Guardian'' is a South African weekly newspaper and website, published by M&G Media in Johannesburg, South Africa. It focuses on political analysis, investigative reporting, Southern African news, local arts, music and popular cultu ...
'' journalists Mandy Rossouw and Chris Roper. During that period, it was reported that the expansion to the compound would cost R65 million, paid for by the taxpayer. Expansion to the compound included the installation of a
helipad A helipad is a landing area or platform for helicopters and powered lift aircraft. While helicopters and powered lift aircraft are able to operate on a variety of relatively flat surfaces, a fabricated helipad provides a clearly marked hard s ...
, visitors' center, private
military hospital A military hospital is a hospital owned and operated by a military. They are often reserved for the use of military personnel and their dependents, but in some countries are made available to civilians as well. They may or may not be located on a ...
and parking lot. The ''Mail & Guardians investigative unit,
amaBhungane AmaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism is an investigative journalism organisation focusing primarily on exposing political corruption in South Africa and neighbouring countries. They say that their name means “dung beetles” in isi ...
, uncovered that the initial phase would include building a double-storey house and a guest house at a projected cost of over R19.4 million. As soon as the story broke out, government denied having a hand in the upgrades. The DPWI spokesperson contradicted initial statements by the government, "there is no work or extension project taking place at President Jacob Zuma's compound at Nkandla." During the site visit at the compound by the journalists, a contractor working at the site speculated that the costs of the expansion were likely to later increase.


Public Protector's findings


Investigation

By October 2012, the
Public Protector The Public Protector in South Africa is one of six independent state institutions set up by the country's Constitution to support and defend democracy. According to Section 181 of the Constitution: * These institutions are independent, and subje ...
,
Thuli Madonsela Thulisile Nomkhosi "Thuli" Madonsela (born 28 September 1962) is a South African advocate and professor of law, holding a chair in social justice at Stellenbosch University since January 2018. She served as the Public Protector of South Africa ...
, was preparing to investigate the security upgrades, pursuant to various formal complaints lodged with her office in response to media reports. The first complaint had been lodged by a member of the public on 13 December 2011, and subsequent complaints were lodged by legal academic
Pierre de Vos Pierre Francois de Vos (born 29 June 1963) is a South African constitutional law scholar. Early life De Vos was born in Messina, Transvaal, (now Musina, Limpopo) and matriculated from Pietersburg High School in Pietersburg (now known as Polok ...
,
Lindiwe Mazibuko Lindiwe Mazibuko (born 9 April 1980) is a Swazi-born South African academic, former politician, musician and the former leader of the Official Opposition Democratic Alliance (DA). She was elected DA Parliamentary Leader on 27 October 2011, beat ...
of the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA), and three other members of the public. The investigation was conducted in terms of section 182 of the
Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...
and sections 6 and 7 of the Public Protector Act – which outline and regulate the investigatory powers of the Public Protector – and, insofar as complaints alleged that Zuma had violated the Executive Ethics Code, also in terms of the Executive Members' Ethics Act.


Ministerial litigation

On 1 November 2013, Madonsela shared the provisional draft of her report with
Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...
's security cluster, which included the Ministries of State Security,
Police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...
, and
Defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...
, and which was viewed as dominated by Zuma loyalists. On 8 November, the cluster brought an urgent interdict against Madonsela in the
Pretoria High Court The Gauteng Division of the High Court of South Africa is a superior court of law which has general jurisdiction over the South African province of Gauteng and the eastern part of North West province. The main seat of the division is at Pretoria, w ...
, seeking to prevent the release of the provisional report. The ministers requested more time to review and respond to the provisional report, and also claimed that they had not been given a fair hearing during the investigation. The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure joined their application. Madonsela said that the case was part of a series of state attempts to obstruct her investigation. In mid-November, however, the ministers withdrew the application, saying that the delay occasioned by the court process had already given them the extra time they needed to study the report. Nevertheless, they suggested that they might return to court to challenge the report on grounds publicly argued by Police Minister
Nathi Mthethwa Emmanuel Nkosinathi "Nathi" Mthethwa is a South African politician who has served as Minister of Arts and Culture since February 2014. He was appointed again in 2019 for his second term, taking also the portfolio of Sport under his wing. He also ...
: that it was the security cluster ministers, not the Public Protector, who had the authority to decide what was classified as a threat to the president and the state (and therefore to decide the reasonable limits of upgrades for security purposes).


Delays

On 13 January 2013 the Public Protector informed the President that she would be unable to conclude her report within the prescribed 30 day period. Section 3(2) of the Executive Members' Ethics Act states that: "if the Public Protector reports at the end of the 30 day period that the investigation has not been completed, the Public Protector must submit a report when the investigation has been completed". The President then suggested to the Public Protector that she had failed to comply with the 30 day period and to report that the investigation was ongoing and whether the process was justifiable. The President and his lawyers tried to negate the validity of the investigation by requiring the Public Protector to indicate whether the President had the power to condone any non-compliance. There is no provision in the
Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...
that authorises the President to condone any action or omission of the Public Protector.


Findings

A provisional draft of Madonsela's report, under the working title "Opulence on a Grand Scale," was leaked to the ''Mail & Guardian'' in late November 2013. The title came from the text of one public complaint, which Madonsela reproduced in the report:
"Like all South Africans I have recently read in the media the appalling story of the sums of taxpayers’ money being spent on the private residence of President Jacob Zuma. This is opulence on a grand scale and as an honest, loyal, taxpaying South African I need to understand how this is allowed to happen. Strangely civil society is quiet. This is wrong and highlights the complete disregard which this Government has for the citizens of this country. Where is this money coming from and how has it been approved?"
The report said that the cost of the upgrades had escalated to R215 million, with a further R31 million in works outstanding, and that, contrary to the government's claims, many of the state-funded improvements had exceeded Zuma's security needs as president. These included a swimming pool ( officially a firepool), cattle
kraal Kraal (also spelled ''craal'' or ''kraul'') is an Afrikaans and Dutch word, also used in South African English, for an enclosure for cattle or other livestock, located within a Southern African settlement or village surrounded by a fence of th ...
, marquee area, and new houses for relatives. It recommended that Zuma should repay the state, and added that Zuma had violated the government's code of ethics on two counts: failing to protect state resources, and misleading Parliament by telling it in November 2012 that the buildings and rooms had been "built by ourselves as family and not by government". Madonsela's final report, titled "Secure in Comfort," was released on 19 March 2014, shortly before Zuma's reelection, and mirrored the provisional report in its substantive aspects. In both the provisional and the final report, Madonsela found that Zuma had benefited unduly from the R246 million the state had spent on the upgrades.


Ministerial Handbook

In her investigation, Madonsela said that the Ministerial Handbook had a maximum security spending of R100 000 should The Minister of Public Works issue approval. Since the house at Nkandla is privately owned by the President, he would only be granted R100 000 for security measures. Therefore, the President would have acted in violation of the Ministerial Handbook.


Political fallout

Police prevented
Helen Zille Otta Helene Maree (''née'' Zille ; born 9 March 1951), known as Helen Zille, is a South African politician. She has served as the Chairperson of the Federal Council of the Democratic Alliance since 20 October 2019. From 2009 until 2019, she w ...
from approaching the compound on 4 November 2012, she intended "to see what a R250-million renovation with public money looks like." She was referring to the security upgrades of R246 million which is multiple times larger than security upgrades to previous presidents' homes. Zuma's spokesperson
Mac Maharaj Sathyandranath Ragunanan "Mac" Maharaj (born 22 April 1936 in Newcastle, Natal) is a retired South African politician affiliated with the African National Congress, academic and businessman of Indian origin. He was the official spokesperson o ...
said the opposition party adopted a "cowboy style" approach to getting the answers it wanted, and questioned Zille's use of the word "compound" to describe the homestead.
COSATU The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) is a trade union federation in South Africa. It was founded in 1985 and is the largest of the country's three main trade union federations, with 21 affiliated trade unions.One Union expelled, ...
, a member of the governing tri-partite alliance, asked for the overpricing to be reviewed. Shortly after the publication of Madonsela's report, the DA sent a bulk
text message Text messaging, or texting, is the act of composing and sending electronic messages, typically consisting of alphabetic and numeric characters, between two or more users of mobile devices, desktops/ laptops, or another type of compatible comput ...
to Gauteng voters ahead of the 2014 general election which reads: "The Nkandla report shows how Zuma stole your money to build his R246m home. Vote DA on 7 May to beat corruption. Together for change." The ANC submitted an urgent application to the
South Gauteng High Court The Gauteng Division of the High Court of South Africa is a superior court of law which has general jurisdiction over the South African province of Gauteng and the eastern part of North West province. The main seat of the division is at Pretoria, ...
to stop distribution of the text message on the grounds that it violated the Electoral Act. On 4 April 2014, the court ruled that the wording of the message was
fair comment Fair comment is a legal term for a common law defense in defamation cases (libel or slander). It is referred to as honest comment in some countries. United States In the United States, the traditional privilege of "fair comment" is seen as a prot ...
and dismissed the ANC's application with costs. The ANC was granted leave to appeal the decision. On 6 May 2014, the Electoral Court ruled that the DA must retract the text message, finding that it wrongly targeted Zuma personally instead of the systematic failures highlighted in Madonsela's report. The court case was ultimately won by the DA when the
Constitutional Court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ...
set aside the Electoral Court ruling on 19 January 2015.


Parliament

On 19 December 2013, public works minister
Thulas Nxesi Thembelani Waltermade Nxesi (born 1 January 1959), popularly known as Thulas Nxesi, is a South African politician. A member of the African National Congress, he is the Minister of Employment and Labour. He was previously Minister of Public Wor ...
presented a report of an inter-ministerial task team which justified the public expenditure and cleared Zuma. On 28 April 2014, a parliamentary ad hoc committee set up to consider Zuma's response to Madonsela's report was referred to the next Parliament to be formed after the 2014 general election, citing insufficient time available before the 7 May election date. As of 11 August 2014, a
Special Investigating Unit The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) is an independent agency of the Government of South Africa, South African government which investigates corruption and maladministration in state institutions. It was first established in July 1997 by Presiden ...
(SIU) mandated to investigate the matter by Zuma in December 2013 is suing the architect for R155.3 million in the KwaZulu-Natal High Court. On 12 September 2014, the SIU's report on their investigation was tabled in Parliament. The SIU said that the Zuma family was enriched by the upgrades and blamed overspending on the architect and public works officials, who have alleged interference by Zuma and others who have all denied these allegations. The SIU also found that security measures were still inadequate despite the overspending. A second parliamentary ad hoc committee, established in August 2014, would consider the report of the inter-ministerial task team published in December 2013, the Public Protectors' final report published in March 2014 and the SIU's report published in September 2014, as well as Zuma's responses to them. The second ad hoc committee challenged the findings of the Public Protector and referred the matter to security experts including the police minister in November 2014. On 28 May 2015, police minister
Nkosinathi Nhleko Nkosinathi Phiwayinkosi Thamsanqa Nhleko, popularly known as Nathi Nhleko, is a former South African Minister of Police. Nhleko served in parliament as Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration, chairperson of ...
, who was appointed by Zuma on 25 May 2014, released his report on Nkandla which found that the swimming pool, cattle kraal, chicken run, visitor's centre and amphitheatre were needed security features and concluded that Zuma does not owe the South African taxpayers anything. On 18 August 2015, the
National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...
adopted the report of a third parliamentary ad hoc committee which accepted the findings of Nxesi and Nhleko and cleared Zuma. Opposition parties
Economic Freedom Fighters The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) is a South African left-wing to far-left pan-Africanist and Marxist–Leninist political party. It was founded by expelled former African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) President Julius Malema, and hi ...
and Democratic Alliance subsequently approached the Constitutional Court to enforce the Public Protector's findings.


Constitutional Court judgement

On 31 March 2016, the
Constitutional Court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ...
delivered a unanimous ruling stating that the Public Protector's report was binding and Zuma and the
National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...
failed to uphold the country's constitution. The court ordered the
National Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or in ...
to determine the amount that Zuma must pay back and ordered Zuma to do so within 45 days of the court's approval of the National Treasury report.


Repayment

As instructed by the Constitutional Court, the National Treasury instituted an investigation – required to be completed within 60 days of the judgement – to "determine a reasonable percentage of the costs... which ought to be paid personally by the President". The investigation was conducted by a six-member panel comprising representatives of two professional
quantity surveying A quantity surveyor (QS) is a construction industry professional with expert knowledge on construction costs and contracts. Qualified professional quantity surveyors are known as Chartered Surveyors (Members and Fellows of RICS) in the UK and Cer ...
firms, two professional
engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...
firms, the South African Institution of Civil Engineering, and the Association of Quantity Surveyors. The panel considered the five main upgrade components – the amphitheatre, cattle kraal, chicken run, visitors' centre, and swimming pool – and found that: * Only the control centre on the ground floor of the visitors' centre could be reasonably considered to constitute a security upgrade; * The reasonable cost of the five items amounted to R8.88 million as of June 2009 and R11.75 million as of May 2016, including
VAT A value-added tax (VAT), known in some countries as a goods and services tax (GST), is a type of tax that is assessed incrementally. It is levied on the price of a product or service at each stage of production, distribution, or sale to the en ...
; and * Zuma should be personally liable for 87.94% of the costs, corresponding to R7,814,155 as of June 2009. The R7.81 million figure included R2.3 million for the swimming pool, R1 million for the amphitheatre, and R1.2 million for the cattle kraal. Treasury submitted its report to the Constitutional Court, which approved the recommendation in late July 2016. Complying with the Court's directive that the amount should be paid within 45 days of its approval by the Court, Zuma repaid the full amount in September 2016. However, he financed the repayment using a R7.8 million loan from
VBS Mutual Bank VBS Mutual Bank was a South African mutual bank. In 2018 it was declared insolvent and bankrupt and placed under curatorship, with South African citizens and taxpayers defrauded out of roughly R2 billion. It was formed as Venda Building Soc ...
, and allegedly defaulted on his repayments of the
bond Bond or bonds may refer to: Common meanings * Bond (finance), a type of debt security * Bail bond, a commercial third-party guarantor of surety bonds in the United States * Chemical bond, the attraction of atoms, ions or molecules to form chemical ...
in August 2018. In August 2022, the
Pietermaritzburg High Court The KwaZulu-Natal Division of the High Court of South Africa is a superior court of law with general jurisdiction over the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. The main seat of the division is at Pietermaritzburg, while a subordinate local seat ...
granted VBS an order forcing Zuma to pay back the bond. The property itself could not be attached to the bond as
collateral Collateral may refer to: Business and finance * Collateral (finance), a borrower's pledge of specific property to a lender, to secure repayment of a loan * Marketing collateral, in marketing and sales Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Collate ...
because the land is not owned by Zuma personally.


See also

* National Key Points Act, 1980 § Nkandla homestead * 2014 South African general election § Controversies


References


External links


Report of the Public ProtectorReport of the Ministerial Task TeamReport of the National TreasuryJZ's Crib
{{National Key Points navbox Jacob Zuma Controversies in South Africa Politics of South Africa Political scandals in South Africa 2015 in South Africa Houses in South Africa