The JG Zuma Foundation will study the contents of a court ruling that allows for the seizure of items from former president Jacob Zuma’s Nkandla residence.
THE JG Zuma Foundation will study the contents of a court ruling that allows for the seizure of items from former president Jacob Zuma’s Nkandla residence.
This comes amid allegations that the former statesman cannot pay back a R6.5 million home loan acquired from the VBS Mutual Bank to complete upgrades at his KwaZulu-Natal homestead.
“The court outcome on the VBS Liquidator v H.E. (His Excellency) President Zuma matter is noted. The foundation and H.E. President Zuma will study the judgment and consult the legal team and if necessary will issue a statement,” the foundation said.
This week, the Pietermaritzburg High Court ruled that the bank could seize assets, including furniture and cattle, to repay the multimillion-rand loan.
The bank’s curator, Anoosh Rooplal, approached the court with an order to coerce Zuma to repay the finances.
In 2019, it was reported that Zuma’s rural Nkandla home was used as collateral even though it was built on communal land owned by the Ingonyama Trust.
It was also reported that the upgrades included a swimming pool, cattle kraal, chicken run, amphitheatre and visitors’ centre, which the police ministry and Parliament sought to cast as legitimate public expenditure by claiming that each item doubled up as a vital security measure.
The final calculation was made public in June and confirmed as an order of the Constitutional Court, which had earlier found that Zuma failed to uphold the Constitution by flouting Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s directive that be refund the State because he had unduly benefited from non-security items included in the project.
