Police Minister Nathi Nhleko’s report about the Nkandla’s “security” upgrades at more than R200 million has cleared Zuma of responsibility to pay for it but he has still to explain who will live in the houses and who authorised the building of the 21 houses at R6 million a house.
Eyewitness News quotes Nhleko as saying: “I need to establish how we came to the 21 houses, what actually transpired and what the logic was. Who took the decision of the R35 million spent on the construction of those houses, should form part of what we now call the security upgrades.”
He defended the spending by comparing it to upgrades at former president Nelson Mandela’s Qunu home 10 years ago saying the upgrades to Zuma’s home is similar to the spending at Madiba’s house when taking into account inflation over the past decade. The upgrades at Qunu was R32 million at the time.
He said the houses were built for police and defence force personnel. All 21 houses are still empty.
