Nkandla like Hitler's Berghof: Lekota

The expansion of President Jacob Zuma's homestead could be compared to that of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler's home in the 1930s, Cope leader Mosiuoa Lekota suggested on Tuesday.

"In passing, may I say that the manner in which Adolf Hitler expanded Berghof and the way in which the Nkandla estate was expanded merits a close examination," the Congress of the People MP said during debate on Zuma's state-of-the-nation address.

Lekota said the government was abusing the public purse and was spending fewer resources on eradicating the country's social ills.

"The R200 million that was spent at Nkandla could have been used to give bursaries of R10,000 to 20,000 matriculants," he said.

There was concern about the lack of mention, in Zuma's address, of how the government would address the massive wasting of public money.

Instead, Zuma had emphasised the need to review the country's current tax system, Lekota said.

"Before asking citizens to fork out more money to the state, the state should thoroughly clean up its own act.

"It must stop corruption and put an end to futile and fruitless expenditure," he said.

Fruitless and wasteful expenditure in government departments, and the massive amounts of money spent on consultants, as highlighted by the Auditor General (AG), was hampering development.

"In the 2009/10 and 2010/11 financial years, an amount of R45 billion was wasted. If this amount was used for bursaries, 125,000 university students could have been funded over three years," Lekota said.

He called for a review of the entire public service.

"The review must include all appointment where appointees are not properly qualified and not productively engaged."

Civil servants who were not adding value to the public service should be fired.

"It is these elements in the public service which account for the finding by the deputy AG that the government, both national and provincial, had spent more than R102bn on consultants between 2008 and 2011."