JOHANNESBURG, April 1 (ANA) – President Jacob Zuma on Friday night apologised to the nation and said there was never any “deliberate effort or intention to subvert the Constitution” on his part.
Addressing the nation on various South Africa television channels, Zuma denied that he “knowingly” violated South Africa’s highest law.
“I also respect the finding that failure to comply with the remedial action taken against me by the public protector is inconsistent with the Constitution of the republic. I wish to emphasise that I never knowingly or deliberately set out to violate the Constitution which is the supreme law of the republic,” he said.
Zuma said he and members of his executive incorrectly interpreted the findings of Public Protect Thuli Madonsela.
On Thursday, the Constitutional Court ruled Zuma had breached the Constitution when he failed to implement the remedial action specified by Madonsela.
In the a unanimous judgment by a full bench of South Africa’s highest court, Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng said both Zuma and the National Assembly had failed in their duty to protect and uphold the country’s constitution when they ignored Madonsela’s directives regarding the spending of taxpayers money on the president’s private Nkandla residence in KwaZulu-Natal.
“The remedial action that was taken against the president [by Madonsela] has a binding effect. This flows from the fact that the cattle kraal, chicken run, swimming pool, visitors’ centre, and the amphitheatre were identified by the public protector as non-security features for which the president had to reimburse the state,” Mogoeng said.
Zuma was given 105 days to pay back to the state a portion of the money spent on the non-security upgrades.
– African News Agency (ANA)
