DEAR Editor,-
The whitewash release of the ministerial task team report on the security installations at the private Nkandla villas of President Jacob Zuma is yet another example of the ruling party’s ineptitude and manipulation.
The Congress of the People (COPE) is not surprised or convinced by the attempt to justify the unlawful splurge of tax money in this monumental spinning exercise, where even the National Commissioner of Police, the Surgeon General and dozens of other top military and police officials were paraded in front of the cameras to explain the Nkandla abuse.
Surely a rural lifestyle, if chosen, should remain a rural lifestyle? In essence, what has been described as ‘necessary’ disregards the fact that many South Africans have none of these ‘essentials’, both in urban and rural areas.
South Africans should ask themselves if President Nelson Mandela would ever have allowed a situation where the taxpayer was to spend more than R1-m on a place for his cattle to sleep. President Zuma’s tributes to Madiba means nothing if he is prepared to indulge in taxpayers’ money in such a cavalier way.
Today’s wicked spinning exercise by the ministerial foursome was a futile exercise. South Africans lost confidence in the security cluster ministers ever since they tried to spin away the Gupta landing at Waterkloof.
They underestimate the intelligence of South Africans. COPE calls for Minister Thulas Nxesi to step down immediately as he publicly accepted responsibility for this fiasco.
We further call on South Africans to disregard the cover-up and to wait patiently for the release of the final report by the Public Protector of South Africa on the opulence at Nkandla. The public should not be blinded by the glib explanations of Minister Nxesi and his colleagues, to justify the abuse of scarce resources on luxuries for their political superior.
JOHANN ABRIE (MPL)
Acting Head of Communication
COPE
