JOHANNESBURG - Speaking to The Citizen yesterday, Scopa chairman Themba Godi said there was a request from the Democratic Alliance (DA) that Scopa should investigate the Nkandla expenditure.

“We are not going to launch a separate investigation.

We will inquire about the Nkandla project when the Department of Public Works present its financial report to the committee,” Godi said.

He said a date for the briefing will be confirmed today.

The Democratic Alliance’s (DA) parliamentary leader Lindiwe Mazibuko said the party will closely monitor this preliminary investigation, and ensure that all details relating to the upgrade of Zuma’s private home are brought before the committee by the department.

“The DA will ensure that Scopa does not abdicate its responsibilities to investigate fully the Nkandla upgrade.

“While this is the first step towards doing so, we cannot allow the preliminary investigation to be used as a mechanism by the African National Congress to block or delay a full investigation by Parliament,” Mazibuko said.

She said Godi must take his responsibility as chair of Parliament’s watchdog seriously and follow through with this commitment.

On Monday, speaking at a meeting of the Foreign Correspondents’ Association, Zuma said he had built his home himself and the state had funded the fencing for the property.

“No government built my buildings, they did the security features,” Zuma said.

 – ngwakom@citizen.co.za

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