DA rejects Zuma’s Nkandla offer
The Democratic Alliance has rejected president Jacob Zuma’s proposal to find a way to pay back some of the money for the upgrades done to his Nkandla homestead.
On Tuesday, Zuma proposed an end to the drawn-out legal controversy regarding the public protector’s March 2014 report on Nkandla.
The president agreed to pay back some of the money, and proposed that a process be carried out by National Treasury in conjunction with SAPS to determine how much he owes on five features specifically mentioned by the Public Protector.
The president put the proposal forward to the courts.
At a press briefing on Wednesday, DA leader Mmusi Maimane announced that the party rejected Zuma’s offer, and would see him in court next week.
The DA is one of two parties taking president Jacob Zuma to the Constitutional Court over the security updgrades which amounted to over R250 million – the other being the EFF.
Maimane said the DA decided to proceed with presenting their heads of argument in the Constitutional Court on Tuesday after getting advice from their legal team.
“President Jacob Zuma stood here in Parliament and told the people of South Africa that ‘I won’t pay back the money’. He laughed off the matter when we asked the question in Parliament,” Maimane said.
“President Zuma is not above the Constitution and he must personally account for it. His head of arguments in the… [Constitutional Court] says he always intended to pay, but that is the exact opposite of what he had said. And now for him to stand in front of the country and say he was intending to pay is quite simply laughable.”
The EFF plans to address the media regarding the matter on Thursday.
The Constitutional Court is set to hear the matter on 9 February.
[Image by Jurgen Marx]
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