ZUMA’S UNDERGROUND BUNKER
SINCE 2011 THE NEWS MEDIA HAVE
REPORTED ON THIS ISSUE - BUT NO ONE COULD STOP IT!
Stes de Necker
1. Bunker bunker time: Zuma's lavish Nkandla upgrade
Mail
and Guardian
11 NOV 2011
2. Why does Zuma need a bunker?
Sunday World
NOV 13, 2011
3. Nkandla: Zuma's R20m tunnels, bunker
MSN News
2014-11-17
4. Zuma secure in Nkandla
bunker
News24
2015-07-26
Maryna Lamprecht
Nkandla (Matthew Middleton/News24)
Bunker
bunker time: Zuma's lavish Nkandla upgrade
Mail
and Guardian
11
NOV 2011
MATUMA LETSOALO, CHARLES MOLELE
Lavish
extensions to the president's KwaZulu-Natal homestead include underground
dwellings and an escape tunnel, funded by public money.
A
network of underground rooms is the latest addition to President Jacob Zuma’s
lavish Nkandla estate. There are contradictory claims about the costs of the
project. After initially refusing to comment, the department of public works
said it was spending R36-million on security related construction. Government
and ANC sources have put the total budget at between R69-million and
R400-million.
The
department did not comment on the underground accommodation.
It
also appears that one of the companies contracted by the department of public
works to do construction work in Nkandla, Bonelena Construction Enterprise and
Projects, employs Zuma’s niece. The M&G met a Bonelena manager
who introduced herself as Mrs Zuma at the site. She is described by workers as
the sister of high-profile nephew Khulubuse. The company declined to comment
and other Zuma relatives contacted by the M&G refuse to discuss
the issue.
This
week the M&G visited the president’s homestead and interviewed
six workers on the site. They all confirmed the additions, including three sets
of underground living quarters with about 10 air-conditioned rooms. Other
facilities include a clinic for the president and his family, a gymnasium, 20
houses for security guards that are above ground, underground parking, a
helicopter pad, playgrounds and a visitors’ centre.
The
public works department said it was paying for the construction of 10 houses
for airforce personnel, 10 houses for SAPS personnel, a military health
facility, perimeter fencing, the helipad, landscaping, bulk infrastructure and
water supply, and houses for families who were relocated outside the compound.
According
to architectural plans shown to the M&G in December 2009 the
precinct would include a garden with ancestral graves. The area would be
cordoned off by a brick wall and there would be provision for only one
entrance.
The
three houses were kidney-shaped and contained his-and-hers bathrooms, living rooms,
walk-in closets and a study. One house had four bedrooms and another had three.
The homes had double-volume ceilings and thatched roofs in the same style as
the old homestead.
Zuma
and his family, according to sources at Nkandla, would be able to enter the
underground bunkers through a 200m-long tunnel running from under the
helicopter pad to the main house. Two lifts have been installed for the
president and his family.
Workers
at Zuma’s homestead told the M&G this week that they had been
instructed to complete the project by November 15, before the president, his
wives and children arrive for the Christmas holidays. During the M&G‘s
visit a festive mood was in the air. “Our president is making us proud. Look
what he has done to Nkandla,” said one resident, who preferred to remain
anonymous.
‘Code of secrecy’
Roads
leading to Zuma’s homestead were being tarred this week. The provincial
department of transport is sponsoring most of the multimillion-rand road
construction projects. It appeared that most of the major construction work was
complete, except for landscaping and paving in and around the premises.
Zuma’s
new precinct will be officially opened in two to three weeks’ time, according
to one of the construction managers. Although Bonelena boss Thandeka Nene
initially denied that her company was involved with the renovations to Zuma’s
homestead, the company’s project manager, Owen Nxumalo, confirmed that it had
been contracted to do the work. But Nxumalo refused to provide more details
about the project, saying he had been instructed not to talk about the matter
in public.
When
reached again on Thursday Nene said that she was prepared to talk, but felt
uncomfortable discussing the matter telephonically. She invited the M&G to
KwaZulu-Natal to discuss it.
Bonelena
has a note on its website emphasising its commitment to a code of secrecy.
“All
documents, material and correspondence that is handled by us will be treated as
highly confidential and will never at any stage be divulged to any other party
without the written consent of that particular client,” states the note.
The
costly renovations at Zuma’s house are taking place amid concerns among
opposition parties and the public about Cabinet ministers’ apparent lavish
lifestyles. Zuma recently came under fire when it was revealed that the
government was spending almost R400-million to renovate his official residences
in Pretoria and Cape Town.
The
upgrades at Zuma’s official residence include steam rooms, fireplaces,
chandeliers, the construction of a sauna and changing facilities, revamping of
a swimming pool and upgrading of security measures, including an escape route.
Presidency
spokesperson Mac Maharaj said Zuma was renovating his Nkandla compound “using
his own money”.
“Government,
on the other hand, is apparently building a helipad for the military to land,
medical facilities for use by military medical personnel and barracks for the
SAPS protection unit. The intention is for the protectors and medical personnel
to sleep in Nkandla, instead of far away in Eshowe, when on duty, or asking for
accommodation from the Zuma household.”
Maharaj
said the department of public works would be better placed to provide details
of the costs.
“We
want to emphasise that the actual premises of the Zuma family are being built
by the president at his own cost,” said Maharaj.—Additional reporting by Nelly
Shamase
Why does Zuma need a bunker?
Sunday World
NOV 13, 2011
WHEN President Jacob Zuma sacked ministers
Sicelo Shiceka and Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde, and suspended National Police
Commissioner Bheki Cele , he was roundly commended for regaining his muscle to
act in the direction of accountability and clean governance.
Zuma's action was not without the sterling
work of public protector Thuli Madonsela and the media for putting the
spotlight on misdemeanours in high places.
The office of the public protector has never
been this courageous compared to Madonsela's predecessor Lawrence Mushwana.
Whether this was due to failure on Mushwana's
part or political pressures denying him independent action is open to question.
Madonsela has progressively proven capable of
thorough probes. She has enabled Zuma to show teeth and also to bite for
purposes of bringing about clean governance.
Hardly a month after toasting Zuma's
praiseworthy action comes the disturbing reports of a 200m-long tunnel to a
bunker built for his and his family's use in Nkandla, allegedly built at
taxpayers' expense.
The public works department, now headed by
newly appointed Thulas Nxesi is back in the fray for reportedly spending R36m
for Zuma's lavish security upgrade.
Government and ANC sources have put the total
budget at between R69m and R400m.
While apt security should be accorded to
Zuma, extending his safety to an underground bunker boggles the mind.
Is the amount spent accountable to public
works' parliament budget vote or are the demons that saw Mahlangu-Nkabinde
sacked resurfacing again?
Either way, Madonsela must not fail to obtain
answers from Zuma because as far as we know, there has never been a security
threat against Zuma that can justify building a bunker.
This is the stuff only known to happen in
dictatorships. If this tells us anything, it is that strange things will never
cease to happen indeed.
Nkandla: Zuma's R20m tunnels, bunker
MSN News
A bunker and 150
metres of underground tunnels beneath President Jacob Zuma's private home
in
Nkandla was meant to be a modest project of around half a million rand, but
grew to
R20 million so that it would look like the presidential home in Cape
Town.
A
source with intimate knowledge of the Nkandla project and connections with the
department of
public works, spoke with Netwerk24 about the tunnels.
Public
Protector Thuli Madonsela found in her report on the security upgrades at
Nkandla that
the tunnels, bunker, and swimming pool would have to be maintained
by the taxpayer for longer
than the president will live.
According
to Netwerk24, the tunnel network is about 4m underground and connects Zuma's
private home with three new houses that were built.
The
network also links up to a bunker, where the president can live during
emergencies.
The entries into the tunnels are protected by unbreakable and
inflammable doors.
Four lift systems were installed from the houses to the
tunnels because some of Zuma's family
members are elderly and they would also
have access to it.
The
lift system has apparently cost the taxpayer another R2 million.
According
to the source, this tunnel system made up a large part of the costs of the
upgrades.
The
tunnel network was also meant to be connected with the oldest construction on
the land,
but it was part of the third phase of the upgrades, and cancelled as
a result of the controversy
surrounding the upgrade.
The
source reported that instructions for the changes came from the top management
of
the Department of Public Works.
Madonsela's work with Nkandla is over.
Her office's spokesperson
Oupa Segalwe told Netwerk24 that the Public Protector would now
only become
involved as a friend of the court when the issue is taken to court
or if
Parliament asks Madonsela to clarify some of her findings.
Zuma
secure in Nkandla bunker
News24
2015-07-26
Maryna
Lamprecht
Nkandla
(Matthew Middleton/News24)
Johannesburg
- The cellphones would always be charged and ready, there would be a mini
closed-circuit TV control room, places to sleep, and food and medical supplies.
This
is what the police had initially planned to put into a safe haven, which was
later turned
into a bunker, to be built at President Jacob Zuma’s
home in Nkandla when the controversial
R246m project was started.
All
this was put in place to protect the President from possible “political
assassination”.
According
to a previously top-secret security evaluation document prepared by the
SA
Police Service (SAPS), the police had from the onset determined that a “safe
haven”
for the protection of the President and his family was of the utmost
importance.
The
document has since been declassified and Rapport, City Press’ sister newspaper,
has obtained
a copy of it.
After
a security evaluation in 2009, the police determined that a safe haven suitable
to handle
high-risk scenarios had to be built for the President. This safe
haven later became an underground
bunker with an extensive network of tunnels
and four elevators at a cost of R19.6m.
On
Tuesday, Police Minister Nathi Nhlekoexplained to the parliamentary ad
hoc committee on
Nkandla, which was sitting in Pietermaritzburg, how he arrived
at his decision that
President Zuma was not liable for any costs related to
security upgrades at his rural home.
In
notes he presented to the committee, Nhleko said the “volatile political
situation” in Nkandla
played a significant role when it was determined what
type of security measures
the president would need.
“There
has been a growing trend of political assassinations generally in the history
of South Africa
after apartheid. In the Nkandla municipality, political
tensions run high and many have been
ascribed to battles around patronage
within the ANC and some among opposition parties
themselves, as is the case
between the Inkatha Freedom Party and the National Freedom Party,”
he said.
According
to the document, it was decided that extreme security measures were needed to
protect
the President from possible political assassinations and other
life-threatening dangers.
The
SAPS determined that the safe heaven would need access points from all three
residences
at Nkandla, reinforced walls and doors, and windows made of
bulletproof material.
Because
the president has to be protected in high-risk scenarios, the room also had to
be equipped
with the following:
. Charged
cellphones with emergency numbers saved on them;
. A
complete contact list with the numbers of all “relevant role players”;
. The
cellphones had to be tested to make sure they picked up a signal;
. A
panic button connected to armed response;
. A
mini closed-circuit television control room;
. A
door that leads outside that can only be opened from inside the room;
. Torches;
. Places
to sleep;
. Medical
supplies; and
. Food
and water.
Someone,
however, decided that these recommendations for protection against high-risk
threats
were not enough.
According
to Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s report, titled Secure in
Comfort, the initial
cost of the planned safe haven was R457 971 in 2010, but
in the end it set taxpayers back almost
R20m.
The
installation of the four elevators to the bunker alone cost R2m.
Both
the Public Protector and the Special Investigating Unit largely attribute the
general increase
in the cost of the project to Minenhle Makhanya, Zuma’s
architect, who Madonsela found had
constantly insisted on “more expensive and
luxurious” options.
The
parliamentarians who visited Nkandla this past week were not allowed into the
bunker or
the tunnel network. They were not allowed inside Zuma’s house at all.
They did, however, get to inspect the “fire pool” and other “security
features”!
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