Nkandla: The hole picture

The holes in the fence that surrounds Jacob Zuma's Nkandla homestead appear to be in the process of being patched up but the breach has some wondering just how much security R246-million actually procured.

Yesterday a photographer from The Times revisited Nkandla to see the state of the boundary fence as reported on by the Sunday Times.

The photographer found wire had been strung across one of the holes in the fence, which cost R6.2-million to erect.

Despite the obvious risk to the president and his family of a very penetrable security fence , presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj questioned the necessity of relocating the family for their safety while repairs took place.

Said Maharaj: "Why would they need to be moved?"

He subsequently asked for questions in writing but had not responded to them at the time of going to print.

National police spokesman Lieutenant-General Solomon Makgale refused to comment.

The DA's spokesman on policing, Dianne Kohler Barnard, said the evidently poor workmanship suggested tender manipulation.

"We have had R246-million spent on 'fire pools' [and other works] in the name of security, but there is no security. People can stroll up and take pictures and walk in.

"This whole excuse of security comes to nothing."

The collapse of parts of the security fence at the president's home seems to have caught many by surprise, including agencies and organs of state that investigated the expenditure of taxpayers' money on the prestige project.

One such was the office of the public protector - which released a report, Secure in Comfort, that found Zuma and his family had "unduly benefited" from the " security upgrading" of the property.

But the office's spokesman, Oupa Segalwe, was unable to say whether the protector's investigations had unearthed defects with security infrastructure .

Gareth Newham, head of the Institute for Security Studies, said: "What this does is raise questions about how this project is being managed."

The Right2Know Campaign, and the SA History Archive, will today ask the Johannesburg High Court to order the police to name South Africa's "national key points".

The ANC frequently justified the expenditure on Nkandla by referring to it as a national key point.

R2K spokesman Murray Hunter said: "[Such] basic transparency is an important step in countering the uncontrolled secrecy and potential abuse of national security policies."

All R2K requests for a list of key points have been refused by the police.