SA government goes to court to

SA government goes to court to prevent release of Nkandla report

Several government ministers have applied to interdict the Public Protector in a bid to secure more time to examine her Nkandla report before it is released to the public

SA government goes to court to

jacob-zuma27s-private-residence-in-nkandla-data

It was to be a good day for trees: after the acres of print devoted to what has become known as Nkandlagate – for once, the suffix had been earned – Public Protector Thuli Madonsela was to release the report that would tell the nation, once and for all, how President Jacob Zuma came to have a R206-million upgrade to his house on the national tab.

But Justice Minister Jeff Radebe has asked for more time for himself and other ministers in the state justice and security cluster to study the report before it is finally made public in a day that newspaper editors have dreamt about for months. Radebe insisted that the State’s intention was not to alter or censor the report in any way – and that this was merely a prudent move for a text that so minutely documented a National Key Point.

But, as the Mail and Guardian and other sources have reported, Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa felt differently; so much of the report is sensitive, he indicated, that only a heavily-redacted report could ever become public knowledge.

“The respondent [Madonsela] is precluded by law from releasing classified, top secret and confidential information, which may compromise the security of the state and the president, and she is interdicted from releasing her provisional report until such time as she has received comments from the applicants on matters which ought to be omitted from the provisional report” the ministers were quoted as saying in the Mail and Guardian.

This Friday, the ministers involved – and, presumably, their very best lawyers – are due back in court, where a judge will hear the Departments’ application to interdict the Public Protector.

Read more on Nkandlagate 

“What’s there to hide?”: Ramphele declares net worth and calls on Zuma to do same

Shhhh… Multi-million rand Nkandla upgrade declared top secret

Zapiro’s Laugh of the Day: ‘Zuma’s home not built with public funds’