African opulence? Nkandla’s quite modest

By News on the Net —— Bio and Archives August 4, 2015

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Unpopular as it may be to say it, one day we might know that our president really did have no idea how high the costs were going to be when Nkandla was completed. It is even possible that he never intended it to be quite so splendid, but that might be more difficult to believe.

A post-project audit would probably find Nkandla was a veritable cornucopia for those who built it, a magic money tree for suppliers of cement, thatching, bricks, fencing, professional fees and whatever else was needed to complete the presidential homestead. Even if the president’s naiveté presented an opportunity to make whoopee with the public purse, some may say, “Why not?”, the client was the president after all. Nothing could be too good for the head of state. If he wished to spend time in rural KwaZulu-Natal to savour his traditional roots, it was obvious that special measures to protect his person were needed, whatever the cost. And since our president has a number of wives and many children, it makes even more sense that one hut of a traditional sort was not enough. A modern version of a Zulu homestead was obviously required. More...