JOHANNESBURG: South African President Jacob Zuma must pay back part of a disputed, multi-million-dollar upgrade to his private compound, the nation's highest court ruled Thursday.
Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng said Zuma "failed to uphold, defend and respect the constitution as the supreme law of the land," in a ruling that sparked calls for him to be impeached.
The court's rebuke comes on top of separate allegations that a wealthy Indian family weighed on ministerial appointments made by Zuma, who is 73 and due to step down in 2019.
Here is a timeline of the homestead affair:
- Ombudswoman on the case -
October 7, 2012: South African Public Protector Thuli Madonsela, the country's ombudswoman, is investigating reports of controversial renovations to Zuma's private home paid with public money, her spokeswoman says.
The "security" upgrades, which were valued in 2014 at 216 million rand (then $24 million), included a swimming pool, a chicken run, a cattle enclosure and an amphitheatre. Zuma says his "very big family" paid for much of the work.
The homestead is described as a thatched-roof compound in Nkandla in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province. Leaked government documents published by City Press newspaper indicate that Zuma paid just five percent of the bill himself.
- Don't call it 'Zumaville' -
November 7, 2012: State broadcaster SABC orders staff not to refer to the site as a "homestead" or as "Zumaville" as the affair grows.
More than a year later, Madonsela denounces attempts by Zuma loyalists to block the release of her investigation, and South African media defy government threats and publish pictures of the home.
- Zuma owes the state -
March 19, 2014: In a scathing report released just ahead of national elections, Madonsela rules that some of the home improvements were "unlawful" and orders Zuma to repay part of the cost.
He nonetheless wins the election easily.
In May, Zuma claims the security upgrade was needed because men broke into the home more than a decade earlier and raped one of his wives, who is not identified.
Parliament sessions plunge into chaos as opposition lawmakers scream "Pay back the money!"
- Pool for firefighting -
May 28, 2015: A police minister appointed by Zuma, who launched a probe in November 2014, says the president does not have to repay any money after concluding that the swimming pool was a fire-fighting precaution.
Nobel laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu blasts the government for humiliating the country, calling them "a lickspittle bunch."
Two months later, the opposition group Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) takes legal action to force Zuma to pay, but the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party shields him from a censure motion on August 18.
- Constitutional Court hearings -
February 9, 2016: Demonstrations take place outside Constitutional Court hearings, with hundreds of EFF activists chanting "Pay back the money" and "Zuma must fall."
- Judge hammers Zuma -
March 31, 2016: South Africa's top court delivers a damning verdict on Zuma's conduct, and Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng orders him to pay an amount to be determined by the national treasury.
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