6. Nkandlagate

Security upgrades to president Jacob Zuma’s Nkandla homestead, which have cost taxpayers more than R206 million, were at the centre of a court application involving the security cluster and Public Protector Thuli Madonsela.

The security cluster, citing security concerns, wanted Madonsela to exclude certain details from her report, based on the findings of her investigation, before it went public.

Madonsela had given her report on the upgrade to the security cluster on November 1. It wanted more than five days to study the document, but Madonsela declined.

The cluster filed an urgent application in the Pretoria High Court on November 8 for more time to study the report before it was given to affected parties. The court postponed the matter to the following Friday, but the cluster withdrew the application, saying it had obtained – through the court process – the time it needed.

The Mail & Guardian reported that Madonsela had found in her preliminary report that Zuma had misled Parliament and benefited substantially from work that had nothing to do with security features.

The story led to the ANC accusing Madonsela of leaking the report and pressing her to release the final version urgently, or be accused of playing politics if it emerged too close to next year’s general elections.

It ordered her to release her report “as a matter of extreme urgency”. She has yet to do so.