ANC commends Zuma's Nkandla response

Johannesburg - The office of the ANC chief whip on Thursday welcomed President Jacob Zuma's response to Parliament over questions about security upgrades to his Nkandla private home.

"Our longstanding view has been that only a comprehensive report would enable Parliament to qualitatively reflect and process the matter in the interest of people of South Africa," it said in a statement.

"In this regard, we commend the President for the comprehensive response as per his commitment."

Zuma submitted his response to Speaker of Parliament, Baleka Mbete, on Thursday.

Earlier, Mbete's office acknowledged receipt of the response.

Mbete's office said the report would be published in the Announcements, Tablings and Committee Reports (ATC) publication which will be available on Friday.

"This is a matter the National Assembly will deal with when it reconvenes," it said.

In the response, Zuma requested ministers in the security cluster and the public works minister, Thulas Nxesi, to report to Parliament on their "clearly defined roles and responsibilities" when dealing with the president, the deputy president and their predecessors' security when implementing Cabinet policy.

Nxesi should urgently report to Cabinet on the review of protocols and procedures regarding procurement, expenditure and oversight applicable, he said.

Lastly, Zuma said Cabinet should review the 2003 policy on the security of the president, deputy president and their predecessors with a view to setting parameters for implementation.

Zuma declined to respond to Public Protector Thuli Madonsela's report in full within the required fortnight and said instead he would wait for the Special Investigating Unit findings.

On 5 July, the chief whip's office said Zuma had received the provisional SIU report and would provide Mbete with a final and comprehensive response within 30 days.

Zuma signed a proclamation on 18 December giving the SIU the go-ahead to investigate "intentional or negligent loss of public money" at Nkandla.

In a report released in March, Madonsela found Zuma and his family had unduly benefited from the R246m spent on the security upgrades.

The SIU said its report on the Nkandla spending would be made available next week.