Quote of the week
It seems that the more places I see and experience, the bigger I realize the world to be. The more I become aware of, the more I realize how relatively little I know of it, how many places I have still to go, how much more there is to learn.
Travel changes you. As you move through this life and this world you change things slightly, you leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life — and travel — leaves marks on you.
The journey is part of the experience — an expression of the seriousness of one’s intent. One doesn’t take the A train to Mecca.
What President Zuma told Parliament about the Nkandla “enhancements”
Today the Mail & Guardian published details of what it claims is the provisional Report of the Public Protector on the spending of more than R200 million of public funds on President Jacob Zuma’s private home at Nkandla. One of the most shocking and scandalous aspects of this report is that the Public Protectors draft report allegedly found that President Zuma lied to Parliament (and hence to the nation) about the use of public funds for his personal enrichment.
The newspaper claims that the provisional report finds that President Jacob Zuma has derived “substantial” personal benefit from works that exceeded security needs at his Nkandla homestead and must repay the state, public protector Thuli Madonsela has provisionally found: a swimming pool, visitors’ centre, amphitheatre, cattle kraal, marquee area, extensive paving and new houses for relocated relatives were all improperly included in the security upgrade at “enormous cost” to the taxpayer, Madonsela is alleged to have found.
Here is the original speech made by President Zuma in the National Assembly in which he claimed the state only paid for security enhancements at Nkandla.
