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| Jacob Zuma |
The governing party dismissed the Mail &
Guardian’s report on irregular state expenditure in the R206m "security
upgrade" at Mr Zuma’s private home in Nkandla, northern KwaZulu-Natal.
The
newspaper said in the report it had seen the confidential provisional
report prepared by Public Protector Thuli Madonsela in her probe into
the Nkandla development. Ms Madonsela on Friday distanced her office
from the Mail & Guardian report.
"As the ANC we will await the
report of the public protector before we can comment on the content and
the findings thereof. We urge the (public protector) to release the
report soonest," ANC spokesman Jackson Mthembu said in a statement.
Mr
Mthembu said "what has been publicised has not been proven to be that
report and neither has it been verified by the office of the public
protector", and urged the public to "exercise restraint and caution
until the public protector releases her report".
"Failure to do so
will prejudice the process as outlined by the public protector and all
involved stakeholders. At this stage we believe that the report is
undergoing inputs and comment by various stakeholders.... We believe
that the report will be subjected to prescribed precaution," said Mr
Mthembu.
Government spokeswoman Phumla Williams also said in a
statement the ministers of the security cluster and the minister of
public works had met with the public protector on Friday to discuss the
alleged leak of a "purported provisional report on the Nkandla project".
Earlier
this month the security cluster ministers applied to court to have Ms
Madonsela’s intended release of the Nkandla provisional report blocked.
In response, Ms Madonsela said in a replying affidavit that the court
move was consistent with previous efforts by the government to frustrate
the investigation.
The minister’s did not counter the accusation
and instead withdrew the court bid, saying that their request for a
postponement of the release of the provisional report had been granted
by default during the time the matter was still before the court.
The
central government said on Friday it only recognised the findings of
the probe conducted by the government — which established, among other
things, that no state funds had been spent on improving Mr Zuma’s
private houses at Nkandla.
Ms Williams said Ms Madonsela committed
herself to following the proper process of handling such reports.
However, Ms Madonsela’s office could not immediately confirm details of
the meeting.
"Government maintains its view that while the
security upgrades were justified, the manner in which the Department of
Public Works handled the matter was inappropriate," Ms Williams said.
She
said the government investigation found there had been a number of
irregularities in the appointment of service providers and the
procurement of goods and services.
Mr Mthembu said the ANC
continued to have "confidence" in Mr Zuma. "We believe and know that he
is not responsible for any wrongdoing with regard to the Nkandla
security upgrade".
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