After years of resisting to take personal responsibility for non-security upgrades at his Nkandla homestead, President Jacob Zuma has finally paid back an amount of the R200-million spent on upgrading his residence.
The Presidency confirmed that Zuma has lived up to the Constitutional Court judgment of paying R7.8-million due for his Nkandla home upgrades.
In a statement released today, Presidency spokesman Bongani Ngqulunga said the amount was paid in full.
"The President raised the amount through a home loan obtained from VBS Mutual Bank on its standard terms, one of the few financial institutions which offer home loans in respect of land owned by traditional authorities," he said.
This follows a court battle that played out at the country's top court, the Constitutional Court early this year. The court ruled that the National Treasury should determine an amount of money the president had to pay back for the non-security upgrades.
The court gave the National Treasury 60 days to proclaim on the determination.
Delivering the judgment Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng said the president failed to uphold, defend, and respect the Constitution as supreme law of land.