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Cape Town - Some members of Parliament’s ad hoc committee on Nkandla have complained that they only received a draft report two hours before meeting on Tuesday. Others claimed they had yet to receive it.
The committee met on Tuesday afternoon, just days ahead of a deadline to submit its final report to the Legislature, in response to Police Minister Nathi Nhleko’s Nkandla report.
IFP MP Narend Singh said he only received the draft around 12:00 and this had put him under a lot of pressure. There were similar complaints from other members of the opposition.
Committee chairperson Cedric Frolick said an electronic copy had been distributed on Monday night.
He told MPs it was important to make use of technology available to them, such as cellphones and iPads.
FF Plus MP Corné Mulder confirmed he received the e-mailed report at 20:00, but said, with respect, that he had better things to do than to "sleep and dream Nkandla".
The draft report, seen by News24, was compiled by support staff and seemed to minute the committee’s previous meetings and activities.
Under the headings for findings and recommendations, it stated "to be discussed".
Frolick halted proceedings for 10 minutes to allow members to look at the report.
This break was extended after some members left the room to vote in the National Assembly.
The ad hoc committee was established by National Assembly Speaker Max Sisulu in April 2014 to study submissions made by President Jacob Zuma in response to Public Protector Thuli Madonsela's report.
In her report, titled "Secure in Comfort", released in March 2014, Madonsela found Zuma and his family had unduly benefited from so-called security upgrades, worth R246m, to his residence.
She recommended that he repay part of the money spent on non-security upgrades, like the swimming pool and amphitheatre.
The committee was dissolved on April 29 2014, after the ANC used its majority on the committee to vote that the matter stand over for Parliament to consider after the May 7 elections that year.
It was re-established in August that year. Since then, it has considered Nhleko’s own report on Nkandla, released in May this year.
Nhleko found that all of the upgrades, including the amphitheatre, cattle kraal, chicken run, visitors’ centre, and swimming pool, were necessary for Zuma’s security and that he therefore did not have to pay for them.
