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The Minister of Public Works, Thulas Nxesi, and his Acting Director General, Mandisa Fatyela-Lindie, failed today to provide key answers to the growing scandal of Nkandlagate. Using the excuse that the information was ‘classified’ at every corner, the Minister looked increasingly desperate in his attempts to defend the indefensible.

I will continue to push for an urgent meeting of the portfolio committee so that he can be summoned to explain himself. Parliament must use its oversight powers to ensure that the Minister is forced to give the answers that he is increasingly unwilling to divulge to South Africa on his own.

Serious concerns remain unaddressed following the briefing today:
The Minister failed to clarify how much the Department will be spending on the upgrade, refusing to either confirm or deny the amounts published in the City Press last Sunday.
The Ministerial Handbook, which caps expenses on private houses at R100 000, was treated with disregard – according to the Minister, it is trumped by security legislation. He appears to be of the view that a different set of rules applies when you become President.
The Minister failed to explain why existing presidential houses would not suffice; especially in the context of security already existing at those facilities.
He reconfirmed his intention to hold officials in his department accountable for leaking the documents, and that the City Press should also be investigated as they broke the law.
It seems the only revealing part of the press briefing was the Minister’s admission that his department is dysfunctional. The DA agrees with him on that score, and so I find it surprising that the department has somehow found the capacity to oversee and effectively implement a project of this nature.

The time has come for the Minister of Public Works to get his priorities right, and to stop turning his department into a construction company for President Zuma’s palace in Nkandla.

He needs to stop hiding the truth, and come clean with the facts on Nkandlagate. I will use every mechanism available to me as a Member of Parliament to ensure that this happens.

South Africa needs more schools, hospitals and houses for its people; not palaces for its presidents.