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Independent Newspapers<\/p>\n
President Jacob Zumas home in Nkandla. Picture: Doctor Ngcobo<\/p>\n
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Durban – The report on the R206 million security upgrade to President Jacob Zuma\u2019s private home at Nkandla has been classified \u201ctop secret\u201d. <\/p>\n
Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi told Parliament this week that State Security Minister Siyabonga Cwele had classified the report, drawn up by a presidential task team, in terms of the Minimum Information Security Standards. <\/p>\n
This means not even Auditor-General Terence Nombembe or Public Protector Thuli Madonsela will be able to lay their hands on the report. <\/p>\n
The creation of the \u201ctop secret\u201d classification was approved by the cabinet in December 1996 as part of the government\u2019s information security policy document. <\/p>\n
The policy offers guidelines which must be observed by all government institutions which handle \u201csensitive and classified\u201d material. <\/p>\n
In a letter to National Assembly Speaker Max Sisulu, dated June 19, Nxesi said he would submit the report – on Cwele\u2019s behalf – to the chairman of the joint standing committee on intelligence, Cecil Burgess. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe report on the security upgrades at Nkandla has been classified as \u2018top secret\u2019 in terms of the Minimum Information Security Standards, rendering it exempt from disclosure, and its classification can only be adjusted by the task team itself.\u201d <\/p>\n
Nxesi said the minister had been unable to provide the auditor-general and the public protector with copies of the report \u201cowing to its classification as \u2018top secret\u2019\u201d but was \u201cattending to the challenge that it presented\u201d. On Thursday night, it was unclear what, if anything, the two state institutions would do to get a copy of the report. <\/p>\n
After getting legal opinion, Sisulu said he would allow the Nkandla report to be considered behind closed doors by the intelligence committee only. <\/p>\n
On Thursday night, advocate Paul Hoffman of the Institute for Accountability in Southern Africa said he did not believe Cwele\u2019s actions could be deemed legal. <\/p>\n
\u201cAny action, taken on the part of a minister, in classifying documents has to be rationally carried out in accordance with the tenets of the law. Cwele\u2019s actions could be described as irrational and part of a cover-up,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cA decision could be taken to review his actions and test them in the courts.\u201d <\/p>\n
DA parliamentary leader Lindiwe Mazibuko said the Minimum Information Security Standards had been created by the cabinet, but \u201cnever passed through Parliament and as such cannot be considered law\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis confirms the DA\u2019s position that the report has not been \u2018classified\u2019 in terms of law and that the referral of the report to the joint standing committee of intelligence is invalid,\u201d said Mazibuko. <\/p>\n
She said given this \u201cinvalid classification\u201d, the DA would table a motion in the joint standing committee of intelligence for the report to be sent back to Nxesi. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe minister must thereafter submit to Parliament a redacted report, which must be made public before the relevant, open portfolio committees. The minister must also submit copies of the report to the public protector and the auditor-general, which he has admitted have not been given a copy because of the \u2018top secret\u2019 status of the report,\u201d said Mazibuko. <\/p>\n
The DA would also submit parliamentary questions to ascertain whether the Department of State Security had \u201cintervened to conceal this report\u201d, or whether Nxesi \u201cvoluntarily\u201d sent the report to Cwele\u2019s department, she said. <\/p>\n
Political Bureau<\/strong> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Independent Newspapers President Jacob Zumas home in Nkandla. Picture: Doctor Ngcobo Related Stories Nkandla report to be kept secret – DA Minister gets Nkandla report ultimatum DA objects to report on Nkandla upgrade Nkandla anomalies conceded R206m Nkandla bill makes Cronin \u2018anxious\u2019 Zuma\u2019s R800 rent \u2018is fair\u2019 Nkandla not a special deal: trust Durban – […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[8275,953,2143],"class_list":{"0":"post-20597","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-south-africa","7":"tag-durban","8":"tag-newspaper","9":"tag-the-mercury","10":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20597"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20597\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}