Bank gets judgment against Zuma for R6.5m he owes for Nkandla upgrades

The Pietermaritzburg high court on Tuesday granted VBS Mutual Bank liquidator Anoosh Rooplal an order forcing former president Jacob Zuma to pay back taxpayers' money that was spent on upgrades to his homestead in Nkandla.

In her report on the upgrades at Zuma’s Nkandla home published in March 2014 and titled “Secure in Comfort”‚ former public protector Thuli Madonsela concluded that when security improvements were made at Zuma’s home‚ a number of structures were built at state expense that were not related to security.

Madonsela said the president must‚ with the assistance of the ministers of police and finance‚ determine the reasonable costs of those features and repay the state a reasonable portion of that amount.

In September 2016, Zuma signed a multimillion-rand loan agreement with VBS Mutual Bank, which is now under curatorship, to cover the court-enforced repayments for upgrades to the homestead.

But less than two years later, Zuma had already defaulted, forcing the bank’s liquidators to file court papers to get Zuma to pay up on an outstanding R500,000 in arrears, according to court papers filed in September 2019.

Louise Brugman, spokesperson for the liquidator, confirmed on Tuesday that the court had granted a default judgment. She said Zuma owed VBS Mutual Bank R6.5m.

She said Zuma has been declared a judgment debtor by the court.

“In terms of the order, the full amount owing becomes due. If the person cannot pay, then the creditor can attach assets,” Brugman said.

However, Brugman said the creditor cannot attach the immovable property in Nkandla because it is built on tribal land owned by the Ingonyama Trust.

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