South African President, Zuma Apologises For Diverting Public Funds For Personal Use

It has been years in the making, and Jacob Zuma has long maintained that he has done no wrong, but after a judge ruled that part of the money spent to upgrade his private residence must be paid back into state coffers, the South African president apologised to his countrymen, vowing to ‘abide by’ the court ruling.

“The matter has caused a lot of frustration and confusion, for which I apologise,” he said in a TV address.It has been years in the making, and Jacob Zuma has long maintained that he has done no wrong, but after a judge ruled that part of the money spent to upgrade his private residence must be paid back into state coffers, the South African president apologised to his countrymen, vowing to ‘abide by’ the court ruling.

At the nucleus of the case is long-running allegations that government money was spent on upgrading his rural home with a swimming pool and amphitheatre.

The opposition has urged him to stand down in the light of the ruling but the ANC, Zuma’s party, is standing firmly behind the oft-controversial president, who is also a tribal leader.
Earlier in 2014, The public protector, an anti-corruption body, had ruled that $23m (£15m) of public money had been improperly spent on Mr Zuma’s rural home in Nkandla in KwaZulu-Natal province, and ordered him to reimburse part of the expense.

Yesterday, the Constitutional Court finally ruled that Mr Zuma’s has violated the South African constitution by refusing to repay the money.