Defiant JZ: I won't pay back the money

President Jacob Zuma wagged his finger and said he would not pay back money spent on hisR240-million Nkandla home in KwaZulu-Natal until a "determination" was made on the matter.

The Nkandla debacle took centre stage again in parliament yesterday as opposition parties demanded that Zuma answer questions he failed to answer in August when parliamentary proceedings were abruptly halted.

"Never have I thought, when will I pay back the money . That determination has not been done . you don't even know how much, you don't even know whether the final answer will say if I should pay back the money," said Zuma.

"The question itself was premature. I gave the answer on that day (August 21). You didn't like the answer and you said you won't leave this parliament."

The issue is expected to be raised at the National Assembly programming committee today, when a new date is expected to be set for Zuma to deal with questions he did not answer in August.

Proceedings yesterday were delayed as MPs squabbled over whether Zuma should take questions on Nkandla.

Opposition parties, led by the EFF and DA, demanded that Zuma start the session by answering questions stemming from when he was interrupted in August and tell the house when he would "pay back the money".

Speaker Baleka Mbete said the matter would not be dealt with by Zuma as it was not on the list of six questions he was scheduled to respond to yesterday.

Mbete also said the question had expired at the end of last year when parliament went into recess.

A confident but at times emotional Zuma, who at one point ignored Mbete's order for him to stop speaking, also denied he was deliberately dodging questions.

"The fact that there questions that were left unanswered is not my responsibility . I've never refused to come to parliament," he said.

Turning to EFF leader Julius Malema's question on whether he was weakening the Hawks and the National Prosecuting Authority to prevent them from reinstating corruption charges against him, Zuma said the claim was baseless.