President Zuma must provide proof of bond to Public Protector and stop hiding information from Parliament
In a response to my letter, Speaker of the National Assembly, Max Sisulu, has upheld parliamentary practise which prevents him from entering into disputes of fact, especially when it arises in the House. He has however advised that I should seek the requested information directly from the Presidency or other sources.
In light of the undertaking made by the Presidency yesterday that the information will be provided to an independent agency, I will be writing to President Zuma to request that he provide the Public Protector, Advocate Thuli Mandonsela, with this documentation, who can then make a decision as to its legitimacy, and advise Parliament whether or not the President misled Parliament in this regard.
The Public Protector is already investigating the upgrade of President Zuma's Nkandla home, as well as the R2 billion allocated for the construction of ‘Zumaville'. She is best placed to take this matter up and provide South Africans with the assurance needed that the President did not mislead the National Assembly. If the President is serious about putting this matter to rest, he will do so without any delay.
He must also ensure that his government stops hiding information from Parliament on the costs of the Nkandla upgrade. In a reply to a written parliamentary question which I submitted last month, the Minister of Police, Nathi Mthethwa has today revealed that Nkandla was declared a National Key Point on 8 April 2010. In a continued effort to hide the costs of the upgrade, however, he has deliberately ignored the substantive parts of my question (see below).
I will write to the Leader of Government Business, Kgalema Motlanthe, and the Speaker of the National Assembly, Max Sisulu, and request that they urgently intervene to ensure that my question is answered in full. I will also write to the Minister of Police himself and request that he provide me with the rest of this information as a matter of urgency as he has not answered the question that I submitted.
The sub-questions which the Minister of Police did not answer include:
- The amount that his department allocated to securing this national key point in the (i) 2010/11 and (ii) 2011/12 financial years;
- Which budget this expenditure was drawn from
Minister's Mthethwa's response that these matters were adequately dealt with by the President on 15 November 2012 is both unsatisfactory and untrue. No information was provided by the President on the amount spent nor were any details given on the budget from which this expenditure was justified.
It is clear that there is a full scale government cover up of the costs related to the upgrade of President Zuma's Nkandla home, and specifically, the details relating to it being declared a National Key Point. By attempting to dodge Parliamentary oversight, President Zuma's government is undermining the integrity of Parliament and mechanisms available to it to ensure that the executive is held accountable.
Text of Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa's reply:
*36/1/4/1/201200217
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
FOR WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION NO 2875
DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 19 OCTOBER 2012
(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO 34-2012)
Date reply submitted 20 November 2012
2875. The Leader of the Opposition (DA) to ask the Minister of Police:
Whether President Zuma's Nkandla homestead has been registered as a national key point in terms of the National Key Points Act, Act 102 of 1980; if not, why not; if so, (a) on what date was the residence declared a national key point, (b) what amount of money has his department allocated to securing this national key point in the (i) 2010-11 and (ii) 2011-12 financial years and (c) from which budget has this expenditure been justified?
NW3549E
REPLY:
The residence was declared a National Key Point on 2010-04-08
Expenses regarding the Nkandla residence have already been answered by the President during oral replies to questions on 15 November 2012.
Reply to question 2875 approved by the Minister
MINISTER OF POLICE
EN MTHETHWA
Statement issued by Lindiwe Mazibuko MP , DA Parliamentary Leader, November 21 2012
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