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Nkandla, Jacob Zuma’s private residence
Nkandla, Jacob Zuma’s private residence. Among the renovations he must pay for is a cattle enclosure and private car park. Photograph: Rogan Ward/Reuters
Nkandla, Jacob Zuma’s private residence. Among the renovations he must pay for is a cattle enclosure and private car park. Photograph: Rogan Ward/Reuters

Jacob Zuma breached constitution over home upgrades, South African court rules

This article is more than 7 years old

Court says president should have respected report ordering him to repay money for lavish home improvements

South Africa’s top court has ruled that the president, Jacob Zuma, failed to uphold the constitution when he ignored a state order to repay some of the government funds used in an £11m upgrade to his private residence, including a swimming pool and amphitheatre.

The court also ruled that parliament, which is dominated by the ruling African National Congress, had failed in its obligations by not holding Zuma to account.

In what will be a costly judgment for Zuma in financial and political terms, the constitutional court ordered that he must personally pay back the cost of those improvements to his residence, Nkandla, that were not essential for security, including a cattle enclosure, a visitor centre and a chicken run.

The national treasury should determine the reasonable costs within 60 days, the judges ruled, with Zuma required to pay the bill just over a month later. He has denied any wrongdoing.

Opposition parties, who referred the case to the constitutional court, have said that they will seek the president’s impeachment.

Zuma answers questions in parliament on 17 March. Photograph: Schalk van Zuydam/AP

In a unanimous judgment, the 11 constitutional court justices said a damning 2014 report by the public protector, Thuli Madonsela, into the spending was legally binding and that remedial action should have been upheld.

Zuma showed a “substantial disregard” for the constitutional power of the public protector, who had ordered him to repay the public purse for the renovations, the court found.

“The president is the head of state, his is the calling to the highest office in the land, he is the first citizen of this country,” said the chief justice, Mogoeng Mogoeng. “The nation pins its hopes on him to steer the country in the right direction.

“In failing to comply with the remedial action, the president thus failed to uphold, comply and respect the constitution. The president may have been acting on wrong legal advice, in good faith. But the illegality still stands.”

The case was brought by Madonsela alongside the country’s largest opposition parties – the Democratic Alliance and the Economic Freedom Fighters party, led by long-time Zuma rival Julius Malema.

Dozens of armed police officers, an armoured vehicle and a barbed-wire barricade were placed outside the court in Johannesburg as the judges delivered their verdict on the six-year saga.

Zuma, beleaguered by several scandals including the sacking of the finance minister, Nhlanhla Nene, which led to major protests and an economic crisis for the rand, offered to pay back some of the money on the residence last month, saying he received incorrect legal advice.

Zuma’s lawyer, Jeremy Gauntlett, previously admitted that the improvements to the sprawling mansion were not solely based on security concerns, as had previously been claimed by the president.

The opposition parties and Madonsela refused to withdraw the case from the constitutional court, despite Zuma’s admission.

Madonsela’s original report called for Zuma to repay the cost of upgrades to Nkandla and outlined estimates of £131,000 for the swimming pool and a parking garage for VIP guests, and £56,000 for a cattle culvert.

Zuma then refused to pay and ordered new investigations by the public works and police ministries that generally exonerated him, including one widely ridiculed that found that the swimming pool was a reservoir designed to protect against fire.

Mogoeng said the president did not challenge the public protector through due process, preferring to use the separate investigations as a shield, considering himself to be “lawfully absolved”.

Democratic Alliance leader Mmusi Maimane outside court on Thursday. Photograph: Themba Hadebe/AP

In his judgment, Mogoeng praised Madonsela’s office, which he said should not be undermined, and described the public protector as “the embodiment of a biblical David who fights the very well resourced Goliath that [is] the impropriety of government officials”.

The ANC’s majority in the national assembly may be enough to save Zuma from any impeachment proceedings by the opposition following the ruling, but it will make it harder for those in his party to continue to support him.

Outside court, the Democratic Alliance leader, Mmusi Maimane, said Zuma should resign immediately. “President Jacob Zuma’s action amounts to a serious violation of the constitution, and constitutes grounds for impeachment,” he said.

In his judgment, Mogoeng said parliament had a constitutional obligation to hold the president accountable and “effectively flouted their obligations” by passing a resolution nullifying the findings of the public protector and replacing them with its own findings.

“This, the rule of law is dead against,” the judge said, calling the resolution unlawful. “It is another way of taking the law into one’s own hands.”

In a statement, the ANC said it respected the unanimous judgment by the constitutional court, declaring the party had “full confidence in the judiciary”.

Malema challenged the ANC to call an early general election, not due until 2019. “Parliament has failed our people‚” he told a news conference. “Let South Africa elect honourable people who will uphold the constitution.

“Why must we continue with failed institutions? This is an opportunity for South Africa to unite and remove a criminal from office.”

At a press conference in Pretoria after the hearing, a smiling Madonsela said the decision was “better late than never”.

“It’s not my place to say whether or not the president is fit for office. My job was to protect the public from improper conduct,” she said. “Now the constitutional court has confirmed I did my job properly and it is someone else’s job to see what happens next.

“But I would say to those who exercise public power, don’t reject those who disagree with you, because you might just head for a cliff if you surround yourself with people who are yes men.”

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