South African tribunal orders Zuma’s Nkandla architect to repay R147 million
The architect behind Jacob Zuma’s Nkandla homestead has been ordered to pay back more than R147 million to South Africa’s National Treasury. The ruling, handed
The architect behind Jacob Zuma’s Nkandla homestead has been ordered to pay back more than R147 million to South Africa’s National Treasury. The ruling, handed down on Wednesday by the Special Tribunal, targets Minenhle Makhanya over unlawful conduct linked to the controversial security upgrades.
Tribunal finds unlawful conduct
The Special Investigating Unit said it secured the judgment against Makhanya, who served as principal agent on the project at the former president’s KwaZulu-Natal home. The tribunal found that his appointment and his role in the upgrades were unlawful and caused major financial losses to the state.
The order covers five main claims. They relate to overpayments, work that was not authorised, and professional fees judged to be excessive. In the SIU’s telling, the bill reflects money the Department of Public Works lost because the project strayed beyond what was allowed.
Makhanya was responsible for the security upgrades at the homestead, a project that became one of the most politically damaging scandals of Jacob Zuma’s presidency. The tribunal’s ruling now puts a personal repayment burden on the man who oversaw the work.
Costs rose far beyond the original plan
According to the material before the tribunal, the Nkandla upgrades ballooned from an approved R27.8 million to about R216 million. The SIU said Makhanya authorised and oversaw work that went well beyond the security measures identified by police and the military.
That work included additions such as tunnels with lifts, 20 extra accommodation units, a laundry facility, a visitors’ lounge and a basement parking area. The project’s scope and the way it was procured were central to the case. The tribunal found there was no open tender, no competitive bidding and no lawful reason to bypass procurement rules.
Makhanya was also not listed as a supplier with the Department of Public Works, according to the SIU. The tribunal said his appointment itself was unlawful. That finding matters because it goes to the heart of how public money was spent on one of South Africa’s best-known corruption controversies.
A scandal that still echoes
Nkandla remains a loaded name in South African politics. The controversy helped define public anger over state spending on Zuma’s private residence and gave rise to the “pay back the money” slogan used by opposition parties.
Zuma himself was ordered by South Africa’s highest court in 2016 to repay public money spent on the renovations after the Constitutional Court found he had failed to uphold the constitution by refusing to return the funds. He later paid the amount ordered, according to a presidency statement at the time.
The new tribunal order keeps the Nkandla case in the headlines nearly a decade later. For the SIU, the judgment is another step in a long-running effort to recover state losses tied to unlawful conduct. The amount at issue now: R147 million, and counting.
