SONA Debate, Day 1: Opposition MPs open Nkandla(flood)gate

The first day of the two-day State of the Nation Address (SONA) debate saw opposition MPs pour scorn on Nkandlagate. Addressing the National Assembly on Tuesday 18 February, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, Lindiwe Mazibuko, said "I want to use this opportunity to send a very clear message to our honourable Members that should the President be found to have been involved in any wrongdoing in the Public Protector's report on the Nkandla scandal, I will not hesitate to table a motion to impeach him in this House".

The Democratic Alliance’s (DA) Mazibuko argued that President Zuma should have resigned after the story broke that more than R200 million of public money was spent on upgrades to his private home in KwaZulu-Natal. Not long after, United Democratic Movement’s (UDM) Bantu Holomisa, weighed in, saying that along with Nkandlagate, Zuma’s administration was also tainted by other financial scandals like the arms deal, the Dina Pule saga, and prior to that the well publicised controversy surrounding the police building lease deal. While the police deal is commonly regarded to have been the reason behind the dismissal of former Police Minister, Bheki Cele, and then Minister of Public Work’s, Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde, the latter’s replacement Tulas Nxesi continues to defend the cost of the upgrade.

Mazibuko told the National Assembly that the DA had won the case over the Nkandla report in the Western Cape High Court earlier on Tuesday and that Nxesi should be probed for misleading the House and classifying information that doesn’t appear to exist in order to protect Zuma from embarrassment.

Later, addressing Zuma, Holomisa said “we have noted your media comments regarding government spending of millions of taxpayers money... you keep telling us you had no knowledge [of the total costs] but you have not told us about what steps you have taken to look into this”.

Holomisa went on to add that had it not been for media exposing Nkandlagate the public would never have known about it. Later he mentioned that he would like to see government set up special courts dedicated to fighting corruption as South Africa is currently compromised by a “strong prevalence of institutionalised corruption”.

In his State of the Nation address last Thursday, President Zuma said “South African’s are united in wanting a corruption free society. Fighting corruption within the public service is yielding results... Government has recovered more than R320 million from perpetrators through the National Anti-Corruption Hotline”, adding that the Special Investigative Unit is doing a solid job “investigating maladministration or alleged corruption in a number of government departments and state entities”.

On Tuesday, Mazibuko hit back at these so-called corruption clampdown successes and, after flipping Zuma’s “good story” SONA catch phrase on it rhetorical head, she said, South Africa does not in fact have a good story to tell when it comes to corruption. She went on to allege that R30 billion has “been stolen from people’s pockets” under President Zuma’s watch.

The “good story” phrase seemed to punctuate the majority of speeches, from ANC Ministers to opposition leaders. First up at the podium, Minister of Higher Education, Blade Nzimande, said that the ANC had a good news story about opening Sol Plaaitjie University in the Northern Cape, as well as a new university in Mpumalanga, and that improvements in access to education and training opportunities led to the growth of college and university enrollments of previously disadvantaged students, which "really is a good story". Later Minister of Women, Children and People with Disabilities, Lulu Xingwana, maintained South Africa’s “performance on gender equity, evident in its international rankings, is a good story to tell”.

However, IFP’s Mangosuthu Buthelezi said Zuma's “good story” about service delivery protests is flawed; that it is not about people being envious of some people having services, but rather “when promises are broken that’s when people protest”.

Earlier Buthelezi mentioned that with regards to South Africa’s legacy the words “Marikana, Nkandla and corruption” have replaced that of “reconciliation and nation building”. COPE Leader, Mosiuoa Lekota, chipped in that people don't have houses because money “meant for those services was stolen by the ANC... People don't have water or electricity because R25 billion just disappeared from your hands”.

The SONA debate continues in the National Assembly on Wednesday, 19 February. On Thursday, President Zuma will be given the opportunity to reply to the points raised over the two-day debate.