The amount commonly claimed to have been spent on President Jacob Zuma’s Nkandla home, in fact includes an estimate of R31-million for further improvements which have yet to be done, Police Minister Nathi Nhleko told MPs on Wednesday.

“I find it funny, the part of the public discussion about R246-million,” Nhleko told members of Parliament’s ad hoc committee considering his report released in May which absolved Zuma of any claim to reimburse the taxpayer for improvements to his home.

“The R31-million is included as estimated costs for more outstanding work,” he said.

Nhleko added that he could not comment on the planned use of the R31-million or the appropriateness of the estimate.

“I don’t know what informed the calculation of such an estimate. An estimate is just an estimate, it is something that does not exist,” he said.

The committee reconvened at Parliament for the first time on Tuesday morning after spending last week at Nkandla inspecting the state of Zuma’s homestead.

MPs from all parties, including the ANC, expressed dismay at the poor quality of the work done at the residence. They were briefed by Nhleko early last week but requested another briefing after visiting the site to air their concerns.

One outcome of the visit was that opposition MPs went back on their earlier reluctance to endorse statements that further security upgrades were needed at Nkandla.

But the Freedom Front Plus’s Corne Mulder said on Wednesday he held a different view in that he believed money should first be claimed from contractors who had delivered poor work or failed to live up to their contracts, before any more should be spent on adding further security features.

“I’m not in favour of spending one more cent. Let’s go find the money … the millions… and then we can complete the project but the taxpayer should not pay another cent,” he told the committee.