{"id":397967,"date":"2026-08-27T14:52:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T14:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/397967\/"},"modified":"2026-08-27T14:52:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T14:52:09","slug":"pay-back-the-money-nkandla-architect-ordered-to-return-over-r147m","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/397967\/","title":{"rendered":"Pay back the money: Nkandla architect ordered to return over R147m"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ed_314727.jpeg\" alt=\"The former architect responsible for the security upgrades at former president Jacob Zuma\u2019s private residence in Nkandla, KwaZulu-Natal, has been ordered to pay the National Treasury over R147 million.\" height=\"720\" width=\"1080\"\/><\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n                    The former architect responsible for the security upgrades at former president Jacob Zuma\u2019s private residence in Nkandla, KwaZulu-Natal, has been ordered to pay the National Treasury over R147 million.&#13;\n                <\/p>\n<p>Darren Stewart\/Gallo Images<\/p>\n<p>The former architect and principal agent responsible for the security upgrades at former president Jacob Zuma\u2019s private residence in Nkandla, KwaZulu-Natal, has been ordered to pay the National Treasury over R147 million.<\/p>\n<p>The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) on Wednesday secured a judgment from the Special Tribunal ordering Minenhle Makhanya to pay back the money, after finding that Makhanya\u2019s appointment and subsequent conduct during upgrades were unlawful and resulted in significant financial loss to the state.<\/p>\n<p>Makhanya was ordered to pay R147 269 444.06, an amount which represents the financial loss suffered by the national Department of Public Works due to unlawful conduct in the project.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe SIU investigation found that, following his appointment, Makhanya authorised and oversaw the implementation of works and improvements that went beyond the security measures identified by SAPS and SANDF,\u201d said SIU spokesperson Selby Makgotho.<\/p>\n<p>More to follow.<\/p>\n<p>Discover the Truth<\/p>\n<p>Step into a world where the truth shines bright, and every headline is worth your time. With News24, you&#8217;re not just reading the news; you are part of a community that values knowledge and insight. Immerse yourself in compelling stories, sharp analyses, and content that keeps you ahead of the curve.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"&#13; The former architect responsible for the security upgrades at former president Jacob Zuma\u2019s private residence in Nkandla,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":397968,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[52],"tags":[8554,4456,9839,114299,5807,131],"class_list":["post-397967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-south-africa","tag-crime-and-courts","tag-jacob-zuma","tag-national-treasury","tag-nkandla","tag-siu","tag-south-africa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@africa\/117168042445071954","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=397967"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397967\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/397968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=397967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=397967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=397967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}