British taxpayers will doubtless be pleased to hear that they have effectively subsidised the building of South African president –and SA Communist Party member—Jacob Zuma’s luxurious new palace in rural KwaZulu-Natal through the annual foreign aid grant of £19 million.
The money, which allegedly goes to South Africa’s Department of Health in projects to “reduce HIV” might very well be spent in that futile pursuit—which in effect frees up that amount of money for use in “other projects.”
These “other projects” have now included the building of a £17.5million palace for Zuma in his hometown of Nkandla—on land which is owned by the Zulu “king” Goodwill Zwelethini.
The Nkandla building works include the construction of 31 new houses, an underground bunker accessed by lifts and a helipad. The new residence, claimed to be a “national key point” is also completely unnecessary, as there are already two official residences for the country’s president, one in Pretoria and another in Cape Town, which are completely equipped and staffed.
Other building works at Nkandla include sports fields, tennis courts, a gymnasium and state-of-the art security systems, including fingerprint-controlled access pads.
Zuma, a polygamist with four wives and at least 20 children, has an official salary of £185,000 per year, but receives a further £1.2million in “spousal support” and pays £560 per month rent for the property upon which the new palace has been built.
Zuma began engaging in politics at an early age and joined the African National Congress in 1959. He became an active member of the South African Communist Party (SACP) in 1963.
Zuma has faced significant legal challenges. He was charged with rape in 2005, but was acquitted. In addition, he fought a long legal battle over allegations of racketeering and corruption, resulting from his financial advisor Schabir Shaik’s conviction for corruption and fraud. On 6 April 2009, the National Prosecuting Authority decided to drop the charges, citing political interference.
Meanwhile, South Africa is in an increasingly parlous state, having had its credit rating downgraded following industrial unrest. Workers at the Marikana platinum mine were mown down and killed by armed police last month when they dared to demand better pay. A truck-drivers’ strike later led to more deaths, and last week thousands of farmworkers downed tools in protest at their £4.85 day-rate.