President of South Africa Jacob Zuma, who triggered national outrage leading to brawls in parliamentary sessions has confirmed his readiness to pay at least some of the $24 million bill he spent on his private home. The announcement was made by the president's office on Wednesday after the controversial spending scandal.
According to Fox News, Zuma made an effort to call the attention of South Africa's auditor-general and finance minister to check the actual price that he has to pay the state. The president of South Africa had an over $20 million state-financed upgrades in Nkandla, a private compound of the South African leader. The announcement comes after the opposition has conveyed their willingness to take the case to the Constitutional Court. The opposition claimed that Zuma reportedly gained from the state fund, which the president strongly denied.
"Zuma wants to achieve an end to the drawn-out dispute in a manner that is beyond political reproach," Zuma's office said.
The Democratic Alliance opposition believes that the president violated recommendations made by the South Africa's national ombudsman. The main opposition is planning to raise their concern at the next hearing on Feb. 9 at the Constitutional Court. There are also allegations that Zuma planned to reimburse the fund because of his upcoming state-of-the-nation address on Feb.11 at the parliament, Omaha reports. The president of South Africa argued that he's not guilty of anything and that the government security officials were the one who controlled the project.
An expansion on the private compound of the President of South Africa includes a swimming pool, a cattle run, an amphitheater, and a visitors' center. The construction was started in 2009. After the 2014 report, the president faced speculations that he misused the fund of the government, Foreign Policy says. After an examination whether or not, Zuma misused the fund, it was revealed in the report that some of the compound's amenities changed.
It was not the first time that the President of South Africa was scrutinized for misused of funds. Several years ago, he faced over 700 charges of fraud and corruption. The opposition is still willing to raise the case in court despite the president's firm denial.
