Tutu blasts govt for 'humiliating' S Africa

Archbishop Desmond Tutu todayblasted the South African government for humiliating thecountry by allowing the president to get away with spendingUSD 24 million of taxpayers' money on home improvement work.

"When the South African government denied His Holinessthe Dalai Lama a visa to attend the Nobel Laureates Summit inCape Town last year, I called them a lickspittle bunch," saidTutu in a statement.

"Our police minister's performance in clearing thePresident of any responsibility for the Nkandla spending, gavenew meaning to the word."South Africa's ombudswoman last year found that PresidentJacob Zuma had "unduly benefited" from the work on his privateresidence at Nkandla -- which also included a cattleenclosure, amphitheatre and visitors' centre -- andrecommended that he repay some of the money.

But Police Minister Nkosinathi Nhleko said on Thursdaythat an investigation found that the president is not liableto repay any of the public funds spent as the improvementswere in fact security features. The swimming pool was actually a "firepool" needed tofight any blaze at the mainly-thatched compound, while thecattle enclosure and chicken run were necessary to prevent theanimals tripping motion detectors as they roamed about, theminister concluded. But Tutu dismissed the minister's conclusions. "Instead of setting a good example, our publicrepresentatives are humiliating themselves, our country andour people by trying to defend the indefensible," said Tutu. He added that the minister's decision to dismiss theombudsman's report "bodes particularly ill for the future ofgood governance". "It is unconscionable to spend hundred of millions ofrands on the president's spurious 'security' needs," saidTutu. "The power of the government to manipulate justice comesat great cost to our reputation, our development potential andour hard-won self-belief. "I am deeply saddened," added the Archbishop, who isregarded internationally as a moral authority.