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Pretoria - The scandal surrounding President Jacob Zuma’s Nkandla homestead is likely to go the way of the Gupta plane saga - in a whitewash, warned government watchdogs on Wednesday.
Corruption Watch said in a statement that the withdrawing of charges against two officers implicated in the plane landing at Waterkloof air base showed they were scapegoats.
“...The charges were designed to deflect attention from President Zuma’s role in securing the use of the air force base for his friends, the Gupta family,” said Corruption Watch.
The organisation’s executive director David Lewis predicted that there will be similar fallout for those charged in the Nkandla controversy, “in yet another show of complete lack of government accountability”.
Corruption Watch congratulated the officers, Lieutenant Colonel Christine Anderson and Lieutenant Colonel Stephan van Zyl, for standing their ground.
The Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution (Casac)’s Lawson Naidoo also told Eyewitness News that the controversy was a whitewash and the only independent report into the matter, by Public Protector Thuli Madonsela, was being sidelined.
Earlier on Tuesday, Netwerk24 reported Anderson as saying she had text messages implicating Zuma in the plane landing.
The Times reported on Wednesday that Zuma himself may be called to testify in a civil case about his alleged involvement in the matter. According to Sandu, Zuma needs to explain why his name was mentioned in ensuring that the plane landed at the airport.
The implicated officers gave the union permission to pursue civil proceedings, which means anybody can be subpoenaed.
