When you spend the princely sum of R246 million you have to have something nifty to show for it. It certainly wasn’t money well spent on that police accommodation (HERE), so what kind of actual security does JZ have if the shit hits the fan and he needs to beat a hasty retreat?
A previously top-secret security evaluation document prepared by the SA Police Service (SAPS) has been declassified, meaning we can now get a little more insight into what features protect Jacob from harm’s way. News24 reports:
…it was decided that extreme security measures were needed to protect the President from possible political assassinations and other life-threatening dangers.
The SAPS determined that the safe heaven would need access points from all three residences at Nkandla, reinforced walls and doors, and windows made of bulletproof material.
Tell us more about this safe haven I hear you cry. On it mate:
Charged cellphones with emergency numbers saved on them;
A complete contact list with the numbers of all “relevant role players”;
The cellphones had to be tested to make sure they picked up a signal;
A panic button connected to armed response;
A mini closed-circuit television control room;
A door that leads outside that can only be opened from inside the room;
Torches, places to sleep, medical supplies and food and water.
Now the above list of requirements was drawn up in 2009 by the SAPS, and it was estimated that designing such a haven would cost R457 971 back in 2010. The eventual cost of this project? Just under R20 million.
Let’s for a second imagine your boss tells you to draw up a budget for something in the work place and you go 40 times over the initial estimate. Something has to have gone seriously wrong, but I think we might be able to pinpoint where in this case:
Both the Public Protector and the Special Investigating Unit largely attribute the general increase in the cost of the project to Minenhle Makhanya, Zuma’s architect, who Madonsela found had constantly insisted on “more expensive and luxurious” options.
Well we can’t have our president hiding out in a bunker that isn’t fit for a king now can we? Imagine if he was entertaining guests and they had to go from the luxury of the private cinema to the abject poverty of a survival bunker…
