Nkandla .... Nkandla! Where do we begin to interrogate and understand this saga surrounding President Jacob Zuma? Yesterday, Police Minister Nkosinathi Nhleko told South Africans that Zuma was not liable to pay back even a single cent of the cost to the taxpayers of the non-security "upgrades" at his private residence in Nkandla, KwaZulu-Natal. The non-security features are suddenly, and strangely, explained away as essential to the security of the president.How could, realistically, a fire pool/swimming pool, a chicken coop or a cattle kraal secure the safety of the president?In an effort to convince the public, Nhleko even used some bizarre video footage to demonstrate the importance of the fire pool or swimming pool.The more the minister spoke, the more the plot thickened.We cannot fault those who say they will find it difficult to pay e-tolls, for example, if Zuma continues to be shielded like this, with him telling parliament and the country that he will not pay for the upgrades because he did not ask for them.There was everything wrong with the Nkandla security "upgrades" from the very first day that the government decided on the project. Warnings were sounded and the media exposed the runaway costs, but Zuma and his sycophants looked the other way.It is baffling to hear him say that he did not know what was happening and that he could not, therefore, be expected to pay for things he did not ask for.Is Nkandla going to define how we secure our future leaders? Opposition parties yesterday said the battle is far from over.It is expected that our courts will now have to determine whether there was theft on a grand scale at Nkandla.We as a nation should demand accountability at all levels of our institutions.But it is clear that the Nkandla debacle will haunt this nation for years to come...