CONTRACTORS, OFFICIALS MUST COUGH UP EVERY CENT STOLEN THROUGH THE NKANDLA PRESTIGE PROJECT
18 August 2015
The report of the ad hoc committee set up to consider the police minister’s report regarding security upgrades at the President’s private residence in Nkandla has been adopted by the National Assembly today.
In its report, the ad hoc committee found that South Africans were misled about the so-called opulence at the private residence of the President and that there was a gross exaggeration of the scope, scale and cost of the project. Through the corrupt collusion of officials and private contractors, the prices were grossly inflated, there is visible shoddy workmanship across all upgrades, and cheap materials used on facilities do not correlate with the amount of money the state paid.
The report calls for those responsible for deviations from the PFMA and the plunderers of the millions of taxpayers’ money to be pursued to ensure that every cent stolen is paid back.
Processes are currently underway to ensure that officials and contractors implicated in this massive corruption are dealt with. It is only just, fair and sensible that the real culprits behind this corruption, the officials and contractors who defrauded the state of millions of public funds through maladministration and fraudulent price inflation, are made to cough up.
The President, whom no report found guilty of any unlawful or corrupt conduct in the entire prestige project, cannot be expected to pay for the fabricated or falsified costs of cheap and shoddy facilities the ad hoc committee members witnessed both inside and outside his homestead in Nkandla.
The notion that the President must pay, despite concrete facts on the ground proving that no facility enriched him financially or otherwise, is a further sad testimony to the state of South Africa’s opposition that is known for its narrow and self-serving posturing than desire to fight corruption. There are officials and private contractors who all investigative reports authoritatively state they have acted corruptly and are sitting with millions of looted public funds.
These are individuals and companies that must be pursued with zeal to recoup the money. The tragedy of our political engagement is that petty and dishonest political campaigns, which are the hallmarks of the obsessive anti-Zuma narrative, distract the nation from focusing on the real task of defeating corruption. The real battle against corruption and malfeasance in our society is often sacrificed on the altar of political opportunism.
The committee has recommended that the relevant departments and law enforcement authorities ensure the expeditious conclusion of civil, criminal and disciplinary actions against the implicated officials and private contractors. The committee also recommended that the portfolio committees on public works, police and the standing committee on intelligence must ensure oversight of corrective actions to be undertaken by the relevant national departments.
The Office of the ANC Chief Whip welcomes the report of the ad hoc committee.
Statement issued by the Office of the Chief Whip, August 18 2015
