Mmusi Maimane
President Jacob Zuma benefited unduly from the upgrades of his homestead in Nkandla and must account to South Africans for it, Democratic Alliance leader Mmusi Maimane said on Thursday.
Maimane was speaking outside the Constitutional Court ahead of the Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng's judgment on whether Zuma should pay a portion of the money spent on the upgrades.
The EFF and the DA launched court applications regarding this. The two parties wanted the court to rule on whether Public Protector Thuli Madonsela's remedial action, set out in her March 2014 report, Secure in Comfort, was binding.
"Today is a critical day for South Africans. It's a day when we get to enforce the powers of the Public Protector... so that no president will ever feel that they are above the law and they are above the powers of the Public Protector," Maimane said. He said Zuma had acted unlawfully and hoped the court would hold him liable for that.
The DA also wanted the reports compiled by Parliament's ad hoc committee and Police Minister Nathi Nhleko to be set aside as they were "unconstitutional and irrational".
Maimane also criticised the manner in which Parliament had handled the entire matter.
"How Parliament handled this respective matter was in the worst form that you can find, so today is critical in that [the judgment] should support the Public Protector, it should make sure that Parliament always does its job and it must affirm the view that we've always held that President Zuma benefitted unduly and therefore must account to the people of South Africa."