South Africa’s President, Jacob Zuma has pledged to refund the sum of $16 million taxpayers’ money which he allegedly stole to upgrade his rural home.
President Zuma, though insisted that by using the money for his private project, he had not acted dishonestly but that he would pay back the money.
Zuma addressed the nation on television a day after the Constitutional Court ruled that his failure to accept a recommendation from the public protector that he repaid part of the money was a violation of the constitution.
“I did not act dishonestly or with any personal knowledge of irregularities,” Zuma said.
He admitted that “there are many matters that could have been handled differently” and apologised “on my behalf and that of the government.”
However, the speech disappointed many South Africans who had expected Zuma to announce his resignation. [myad]
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