South
Africa’s main opposition party laid criminal charges against President
Jacob Zuma on Thursday, accusing him of “flagrant abuse” of public money
over $23 million in upgrades to his home that included a swimming pool
and a cattle enclosure.
The Democratic Alliance filed eight
charges of corruption against Zuma at a police station near his Nkandla
homestead, a party spokeswoman told Reuter.
The sprawling compound in rural
KwaZulu-Natal province has become a growing headache for Zuma and his
ruling ANC just six weeks before an election.
South Africa’s corruption watchdog on
Wednesday said Zuma benefitted “unduly” from the state-funded security
upgrades, accusing him of conduct “inconsistent with his office”. It
said he should pay for some of the unnecessary buildings, which also
included an amphitheatre and a chicken run.
The findings from Public Protector Thuli
Madonsela’s two-year investigation are widely seen as damaging for
scandal-plagued Zuma and may harm his ruling African National Congress
(ANC) in the May 7 polls, although the party, which has ruled since the
end of apartheid in 1994, is still expected to win.
Under South African law, an individual or
an institution can lay criminal charges through a legal filing. The DA
submission was expected to go the National Prosecuting Authority, which
would decide whether there was a formal case to answer.
The charges were filed a day after the DA said it planned to start impeachment proceedings against Zuma in parliament.
Impeachment is the correct course of
action for this flagrant abuse of public money,” Lindiwe Mazibuko, the
opposition’s leader in the assembly, said in a statement.
But given the ANC’s two-thirds majority
in parliament, the move to impeach Zuma is certain to fail. Nor is it
likely to be a game-changer for the DA in the elections, as many blacks
see the party as representing privileged whites.
Still, Madonsela’s report reinforces the
perception among many South Africans that Zuma and senior members of the
ANC have grown rich as millions remain mired in poverty. While the
ruling party leapt to Zuma’s defense on Thursday, it admitted the
scandal could be damaging with the elections looming.
“Let’s accept that it is a concern,
because anything that is bringing negative publicity to the ANC is a
source of concern,” ANC Secretary General Gwede Mantashe told a news
conference.”
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