Zuma pay-back offer falls flat

Nkandla U-turn shows power crisis getting worse, political experts say

PRESIDENT Jacob Zuma’s honeymoon in office is over and his authority is being challenged. Yesterday, ANC members spoke openly of being embarrassed and pained by the president after he was forced into a second dramatic climbdown in two months – this time over Nkandla.

Two years after denying liability for the splurging of millions in taxpayers’ money on his private KwaZulu-Natal homestead, Zuma announced late on Tuesday that he had written to the Constitutional Court proposing to repay some of the money.

The deal is in line with recommendations by public protector Thuli Madonsela. She cautiously welcomed Zuma’s statement yesterday, but declined to comment further.

The U-turn came before a Constitutional Court hearing next Tuesday to decide whether Zuma should foot some of the bill for supposed security upgrades.

These include a swimming pool described as a fire-fighting facility, a chicken run, a cattle enclosure, an amphitheatre and a visitors’ centre.

The decision to pay up follows years of political fallout during which an ANC-dominated parliamentary committee and the police minister absolved Zuma of liability.

While the ANC officially welcomed Zuma’s action, senior members said it was too late to repair the dented image of the party and government.

“We have been used and our structures compromised to protect a lie that has been clear to all,” a senior national executive committee member said.

“The ANC was dragged into a dark hole and now we are told to accept the president’s statement,” the member said.

“It pains us that we now have to tell our people that, indeed, the president must pay back the money when so much time and resources were used to defend Nkandla corruption.”

Former ANC caucus chairwoman Vytjie Mentor was scathing, saying Zuma should have taken the action two years ago.

Zuma’s climbdown follows a debacle in December in which he was forced to reverse his appointment of an ANC backbencher as finance minister.

The sacking of Nhlanhla Nene wiped tens of billions of rands off the JSE and sent the rand into a tailspin.

Zuma then reappointed veteran Pravin Gordhan to the finance portfolio.

Last week, senior party members spoke openly about the influence of the Gupta family in the affairs of the state, pointing a finger at Zuma.

Meanwhile, political analyst Somadoda Fikeni said: “The president’s sense of political invincibility seems to have been dented by cumulative events.”

Offering the settlement on Nkandla, the Presidency said: “To achieve an end to the drawn-out dispute the president proposes that the determination of the amount he is to pay should be independently and impartially determined.”

The sum would be determined by the auditor-general and the Treasury.

The ANC said yesterday it hoped the decision would put Nkandla to rest.

It said its support for the proposed solution “does not imply that President Zuma is responsible for wrongdoing in the security upgrades at Nkandla”.

The Constitutional Court case, brought by the Economic Freedom Fighters and joined by the DA, is also likely to decide whether Madonsela’s findings are binding or mere recommendations, as Zuma has contended. The DA said the case would go ahead. Party leader Mmusi Maimane said the party wanted to ensure Madonsela’s instructions were legally binding unless reviewed by court.

The EFF said it would indicate its course of action today.

Political analyst and constitutional law expert Shadrack Gutto said an important issue was whether Zuma should apologise to the public protector and the nation for using state organs to undermine Madonsela’s findings.

“Finally, the president is looking at the law and saying: ‘This is what the law says and I have not been telling the truth’.” – Additional reporting by AFP and Bloomberg