Lawyers earned R4 million from Nkandla‚ at State cost

03 November 2016 - 14:00 By TMG Digital
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SC Jeremy Gauntlett leaving the Constitutional Court on February 9, 2016. File photo.
SC Jeremy Gauntlett leaving the Constitutional Court on February 9, 2016. File photo.
Image: Gallo Images / Beeld / Felix Dlangamandla

The State has spent R4 million on litigation involving the non-security upgrades to President Jacob Zuma’s private homestead in Nkandla.

This was revealed in a reply by the Minister in the Presidency‚ Jeff Radebe‚ to a parliamentary question submitted by the Democratic Alliance.

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"It is a double blow to South Africa that President Zuma not only appropriated public money to build Nkandla‚ but that millions have been used to defend him and his proclivity to dip into state funds for his own personal use. It is high time that the ANC-run government stop wasting state funds defending the indefensible‚" James Selfe‚ chairperson of the DA's Federal Executive‚ said in a statement.

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"It has become all too common for the State to pursue frivolous litigation using other peoples’ money.

"Most recently it was revealed that more than R17 million was spent by the Department of Police on political witch hunts against Johan Booysen‚ Robert McBride‚ Anwa Dramat and Shadrack Sibiya.

"We have seen the same wasteful expenditure on defending Mr Hlaudi Motsoeneng‚ who is clearly unfit to be anywhere near the SABC.

"The DA believes that the President‚ Ministers and Directors-General should be held personally liable and be made to pay for wasting valuable financial resources."

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In a separate statement on Thursday‚ the Congress of South African Trade Unions also denounced the "wasteful expenditure of taxpayer’s money by public representatives on frivolous legal challenges".

The trade union federation sent this blunt message after recent court challenges involving various government ministers - despite being old partners within the tripartite alliance.

"Our public representatives have become vexatious litigants‚ abusing the legal processes to defend the indefensible at times‚" Cosatu said.

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"We support the sentiments and suggestions that all those‚ who are wasting taxpayers’ money in frivolous legal challenges‚ should be made to pay it back from their own pockets.

"The South African government under this administration at all levels has been a pot of gold and a boom for the legal fraternity. It has become a norm for government representatives to pay lawyers to go to court to fight matters on legally unsound grounds. Whilst‚ we support the right of individuals to exercise their right to make use of the legal processes‚ we do not believe that they should be allowed to abuse taxpayer’s money in the process."

Cosatu said further that legal advisers‚ "who continuously give unsound legal advice‚ should be removed from the state payroll".

"We have seen ministers and MECs using courts to stop settlement payments to the victims of medical malpractice and police brutality. The legal system is not a tool for politicians to hide their nefarious activities and for grey bureaucrats to hide their mediocrity and incompetence. We cannot allow our tax monies to be wasted when millions of South Africans are going hungry every day‚" it pronounced.

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