Much has been written about the Public Protector's report on Nkandla. Most significant is the number of laws and policies flouted. It reminded me of Tacitus' words: "The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws."

Advocate Thuli Madonsela assessed several complaints against the ‘illegal' upgrade of President Zuma's Chief Luthuli homestead vis-a-vis a battery of laws that boggles the mind. They ranged from the Public Protector's Act, the Executive Members' Ethics Act, the National Key Points Act, the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act, Public Finance Management Act, Minimum Information Security Standards Policy, Defence Act, SA Defence Review, Cabinet Policy, to the Supply Chain Management Policy Framework, and the Constitution, to ascertain where officials, ministers, senior cabinet ministers and the president undermined laws intended to prevent corruption and maladministration.

Plowing through this miasma of regulations, our meticulous Public Protector reveals, that despite them all, officials found loopholes to enrich themselves. And that for me is the key point. Instead of one appointed entity to see to the security of our presidents, a range of agencies is involved, allowing for much to fall through the cracks, the worst being the notion of "scope creep", which in the construction industry is

"... primarily attributed to lack of or poor demand management and failure to manage service providers, who are known to find ways to expand their brief leading to greater cost and extended periods of engagement. Some of the dimensions of the scope creep were consequential to the constant add-ons to the original list of security measures. For example, one of the consequences of the measures constructed beyond the list compiled on the basis of the two security evaluations was that the soil was disturbed significantly leading to a decision by the Project Team in August to employ the services of a Landscape Architect to advise on the rehabilitation of the land. This was not part of the original idea."

Except for a few, officials kowtowed to the president's private architect, Mr Makhanye, who operated with the full confidence and the blessing of the president, inflating prices as he went along, earning excessive kickbacks for himself. Just imagine how officials on the lower rungs of the hierarchy, were ‘beaten into submission' and intimidated, knowing that Makhanye had the full power of the president and senior ministers behind him, as implied in the report below.

"Mr Makhanya, ... involved in the President's non-security construction works, was brought in, without going on tender, to act as the DPW's Principal Agent in respect of the entire Nkandla Project, while retaining his position as the President's Principal Agent and architect. This is the period when the scale of work increased exponentially, leading to installations that were not recommended in any of the authorizing instruments or Security Evaluation Reports and the cost of works escalating to over R215 million. It is also the point at which the Director: Architectural Services at the DPW expressed concerns about moving from "humble beginnings to establishing a full township."

Makhanye also took on the role of non-security and security advisor, violating all the different pieces of legislation pertaining to the president's security. He made a whopping R16.5 million extracting funds for redesigning this humble homestead into a "kraal on steroids", which included an amphitheater, a chicken run, a cattle culvert, a visitor's centre, a swimming pool, and the relocation of the neighbours at the state's expense! As homeowner, the president, surely, cannot claim ignorance as to what transpired in his home. To appoint architects, a project manager, and supervisors without a planned budget, is irresponsible to the extreme.

Madonsela's report concludes that this project was done on the trot; some officials clearly complained; others proceeded knowing that in the name of the President, they could milk the system. That is why we need a president of absolute probity and integrity to give leadership to young officials. We need a culture of transparency and accountability to seep into the DNA of civil servants. But if it is not in the president's DNA, how do we expect to promote clean governance?

This article first appeared in Die Burger.

Click here to sign up to receive our free daily headline email newsletter