President delays Nkandla report

PRESIDENT Jacob Zuma has asked for another extension to finalise his response to public protector Thuli Madonsela's damning provisional report on the R208-million upgrade of his Nkandla homestead.

This will further delay the release of Madonsela's final report because she has to incorporate Zuma's response.

Madonsela has previously refused to divulge the identity of the "respondent" who had requested an extension, but a source who did not want to be identified said it was the president himself.

Zuma was supposed to have responded to Madonsela by yesterday, but he has asked to be given until Friday this week, a day after he delivers his state of the nation address.

The revelation that Zuma is contributing to the delay in the finalisation of the report is likely to leave the ANC with egg on its face, because the party has put pressure on Madonsela to release it speedily.

Without mentioning Zuma by name, Madonsela said in a text message: "The respondent has, for good reasons, requested a further extension to February 14 2014."

Pressed to elaborate, Madonsela replied: "We, unfortunately, do not disclose details of correspondence during an ongoing investigation. If necessary, such information will be disclosed when we release the report."

Presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj seemed surprised when contacted yesterday and asked who had told the Sunday Times that Zuma had sought an extension. He said Zuma's lawyers would respond to questions from the newspaper.

"I have sent the questions to the lawyers to find out what the position is," he said.

This comes a week after the Sunday Times reported that former national police commissioner Bheki Cele and his lawyers held two meetings with Madonsela and her team last month, at which Cele was shown the provisional report. The report says he failed to comply with the Public Finance Management Act in procuring goods and services for the security upgrade.

Cele, who was fired in June 2012, was in charge of the police during part of the upgrade and Madonsela wants him to explain his role. But Cele wants Madonsela to provide him with police documents to refresh his memory, arguing that he has been out of the force for more than two years.

The Mail & Guardian has previously reported that Madonsela's provisional report finds that Zuma was aware of the upgrades at his private residence despite Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi's insistence that he had not known.

Zuma has also told parliament that he was not aware of the scale of the construction.

Zuma cancelled his door-to-door election campaign in Soweto yesterday and returned to Nkandla to "relax".

Maharaj said Zuma was resting "ahead of a full week, including a working visit to Congo-Brazzaville and his state of the nation address".

mthethwab@sundaytimes.co.za