Nkandla: DA calls for Zuma's re-payment plan to be tabled in Parliament; tables motion to remove implicated ministers

Note to editors: The following press statement was distributed at a press conference hosted by DA Parliamentary Leader, Lindiwe Mazibuko MP and DA Parliamentary Caucus Chairperson, Dr Wilmot James MP, in Cape Town.

Last week Wednesday was a victory for our constitution and our democracy. 

The release of the Public Protector's ‘Nkandla Report' - the culmination of the DA's nearly two year-long battle to ensure accountability for the spending of nearly R250 million of public money on President Zuma's private residence at Nkandla - will be remembered as a tipping point in our country's efforts to fight corruption and maladministration.

But it must be made clear, this is only the first step. Indeed, accountability must be followed through with if we are to send a message to our people that we will not tolerate this flagrant abuse of public money.

The DA remains resolute in ensuring that this happens, and without delay. That is why I announced last week that I would table a motion in terms of Section 89 of the Constitution to have President Zuma removed from office. This motion has been submitted to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Max Sisulu, and I now await feedback on its status as well as my request for an urgent meeting with him.

Worrying developments:

Since then, however, there have been increasingly worrying signals of how both the ANC and its alliance partners intend handling this damning report. A political party committed to fighting corruption would have acted swiftly against all those implicated - including the President. But instead, we have witnessed a multi-pronged effort to undermine the status of the report. This includes:

Attempts to liken the report to the ‘whitewash' Public Works Task Team Report. This, despite this latter report being only 36 pages long and spending more time dealing with earthquake scenarios and geography than with the real issues in this case;

Attacks on the Public Protector herself, as witnessed in the statements by the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the ANC Youth League (ANCYL);

ANC leaders ignoring the findings completely, and continuing with the claim that no money was spent on President Zuma's home - despite the report's findings that he must re-pay the money spent on line items such as the cattle kraal and swimming pool - which added value to his personal property;

Threats to take the report on legal review. The DA remains committed to joining this case as an intervening party if this happens;

Attacks on the DA for our efforts to hold President Zuma accountable for this abuse of public resources, by threatening to lay charges against us and report us to the IEC;

The ANC's search for convenient scapegoats - such as National Police Commissioner, Riah Phiyega - instead of questioning the most senior implicated parties including the President and ministers in his cabinet.

These responses do not belong to a party committed to creating a better life for South Africans or to taking South Africa forward. They represent party which has done a complete U-turn on its proud legacy - defending those against whom it should act. South Africans will judge the ANC for this on election-day.

Further action to be pursued by the DA to ensure accountability:

In light of this concerted effort both to undermine and ignore the report, the DA will re-double our efforts to ensure accountability - from the top down.

I can therefore announce today that I will write to both President Jacob Zuma and the Speaker of the National Assembly, Max Sisulu, calling for the full-repayment plan for the money owed by the President to South Africa to be tabled in Parliament and made public. We cannot simply trust that this will happen unless we ensure maximum transparency. 

This letter will be complimented by written parliamentary questions which will be submitted via our colleagues in the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), which remains in session. President Zuma will have ten working days to reply to these questions.

I can also announce further - given the worrying developments we have referred to - that the DA will seek legal advice as to what recourse there is in the law to ensure that President Zuma and all other implicated parties comply fully with the recommendations in the report, should they fail to do so. 

The failure by the President to act on the Fishing Patrol Vessels report by the Public Protector - including his failure to table the report in Parliament - sets an ominous precedent in this instance. We cannot allow this to be repeated.

One of the worrying developments noted above is the all-out effort to shield President Zuma from being held accountable. His ministers have led the charge in this regard over the last two years and they too must be held accountable for acting in the best interests of an implicated President, rather than the people they are duty-bound to serve.

After almost a week - and despite clear findings against these ministers - there have been no ministerial resignations. When the Minister of Justice, Jeff Radebe, was asked at a press conference whether there would be any resignations, he merely dodged the question.

Most worryingly, President Zuma himself remains silent. 

Given this clear omission, it is now up to Parliament to act. I will therefore table a motion to remove implicated ministers in the cabinet - as set out in and given effect to by Section 102(1) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.

This motion, which forces the President to ‘reconstitute' the cabinet, is a mechanism by which Parliament can send a message to the President that the people no longer have faith in certain Ministers in his cabinet, and they must go. 

This motion will run concurrently with the motion to impeach President Zuma, given effect to by Section 89 of the Constitution - which provides for his removal only, and will prevent him from standing for public office again and from accruing any benefits of public office. 

Such action is necessary, if we consider the findings of the report:

The Ministers of Public Works', including Thulas Nxesi, communication with Parliament "was riddled with inaccuracies and inconsistencies." All the Ministers of Public Works provided incorrect information on the legal authority for and the extent of the works at the President's private residence. 

The Minister of Police, Nathi Mthethwa, failed properly to apply his mind when signing the Declaration of President Zuma's private residence as a National Key Point directing the President to implement security measures at own cost or to properly modify the Declaration. This failure was found by the Public Protector to constitute improper conduct and maladministration.

Minister Mthethwa "could have provided better executive leadership, especially with regard to speedily assessing the extent and cost of the Nkandla project". This failure was found by the Public Protector to constitute improper conduct and maladministration.

At a meeting with Ministers of Public Works, Police, Justice and Constitutional Development and Defence and Military Veterans, the Public Protector was asked to discontinue her investigation until the recommendations of the Teak Team had been implemented. 

Both Minister Mthethwa, and the Minister of State Security, Siyabonga Cwele, informed Adv Madonsela that they had launched investigations into the ‘leak' of her report to the Mail and Guardian at the end of last year. This was noted by the Public Protector as causing "discomfort among the members of the investigation team, who perceived it to be aimed at intimidating and victimizing them and me."

Funds were reallocated from the Inner City Regeneration and the Dolomite Risk Management Programmes of the Department of Public Works. Due to a lack of proper demand management and planning, these service delivery programmes of the department were negatively affected. This was found to be in violation of section 237 of the Constitution and the Batho Pele White Paper and accordingly constitutes improper conduct and maladministration.

Parliament has the power to act against both President Zuma and implicated ministers - as set out clearly in the Constitution. We must not take this authority for granted. We must act in the best interests of the people we were elected to represent.

Conclusion:

The Nkandla scandal demonstrates - more clearly than ever before - the rot in Jacob Zuma's ANC. It is a story of a President who improperly and materially benefited from nearly R250 million of public money, and who, over the course of many years, did nothing to stop it.

It is the story of cabinet ministers so blindly committed to keeping President Zuma in office, that they would rather act inconsistently with the Constitution than ensure transparency and accountability.

It is a story which the people of South Africa cannot afford to live in any longer. That is why the DA will work harder than ever before to ensure that all those responsible - including President Zuma - are made to answer for their actions. 

We can say no to five more years of President Jacob Zuma and to Nkandlagate on 7th May. Together we must stand together for change, and against corruption.

Statement issued by Lindiwe Mazibuko MP, Parliamentary Leader of the Democratic Alliance, March 24 2014

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