The perceived excessive use of state funds to lavishly upgrade President Jacob Zuma’s private home in Nkandla beyond security requirements continues to haunt him.
Zuma is scheduled to deliver his 2015 State of the Nation Address on February 12 but Julius Malema, the ANC youth leader who broke away to form the Economic Freedom Fighters party insists Zuma answer questions on his house or no SNA.
The presidency prefers March 11 to answer questions on Nkandla.
“We have an appointment with him on the 12th of February and he is going to answer questions,” Malema said in an interview last Wednesday.
“The leadership of the EFF is highly charged and… we cannot abandon the programme. We are confronting corruption and we are confronting the face of corruption and therefore we must not be apologetic about it.”
The EFF has vowed to disrupt Zuma’s State of the Nation Address on February 12 unless a special sitting of the National Assembly is scheduled for Zuma to answer questions.
Malema on Wednesday warned there would be “heated” arguments during the State of the Nation next month but this would not warrant the police being called in again.
“The police have got no room to play where members of Parliament are arguing amongst themselves.
“We are going to have a heated argument between ourselves and the president and the Speaker including those voting cattle of the ANC there,” he said.
However, the police had no right to enter the House.
“They are not elected, they must go and fight crime somewhere else.
“It’s not a crime to ask the president questions so there is no need for them to come into Parliament.”
Earlier on Wednesday, Speaker Baleka Mbete announced that Zuma would answer questions in the National Assembly in March.
The presidency had recommended March 11, almost a month after Zuma’s State of the Nation Address.
Presidency spokesman Mac Maharaj said the National Assembly would provide feedback and preparations would begin once the date was confirmed by Parliament.
Opposition parties have accused Zuma of trying to avoid answering questions in Parliament.
On August 21, EFF MPs interrupted Zuma’s replies to questions by banging on their desks and chanting “pay back the money”.
This was in reference to Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s recommendation that Zuma repay that part of the R246 million spent on upgrades to his Nkandla, KwaZulu-Natal, home not related to security.
Since then he has not returned to answer questions.
Last week Mbete urged Malema not to use Zuma’s address to demand that he answer questions on the Nkandla controversy.
In November, riot police were called into the National Assembly after EFF MP Ngwanamakwetle Mashabela had called Zuma a “thief” and refused to leave the House when ordered to.
In 2011 the South African National Assembly approved R203 million for security upgrades at President Zuma private residence in his home town, Nkandla.
In the event the costs escalated to R246 million after non-security items like a pool (dubbed a firepool by government), an amphitheatre, and a chicken run were included.
In his report released in March 2014, Public Prosecutor Madonsela found Zuma and his family had unduly benefited from the R246 million spent on the security upgrades and called on Zuma to refund part of the over expenditure.
But Zuma insists that none of the three investigative reports on the issue so far had accused him of any wrong doing.