President Jacob Zuma has received the resignation of Special Investigating Unit (SIU) head Vas Soni, the presidency said on Monday.
“It is with regret that I accept Advocate Soni’s resignation given the good work he has done at the SIU in a short space of time, but I understand the painful personal circumstances,” Zuma said in a statement.
“Adv Soni had turned the SIU into an effective instrument of fighting maladministration and corruption given his impressive turnaround time with investigations,” he said.
Soni resigned for personal reasons, as his wife Anitha was unwell.
“We wish him and his wife well during this difficult period,” said Zuma.
“We wish Mrs Soni a return to good health.”
Earlier Soni told broadcaster eNCA he needed to spend time with his wife.
Asked whether the job had been stressful, Soni said it had.
“I think it has been stressful and it’s a serious challenge… I had spent almost my entire working life in the private sector and did not realise what a challenge working in the public sector is,” he told the broadcaster.
He indicated he would be going into private practice.
Soni was appointed by Zuma in September 2013.
In September last year, the SIU found that Zuma was enriched by state-funded improvements to his Nkandla home, but placed the blame for millions lost as the project escalated into “unacceptable extravagance” on his architect Minenhle Makhanya.
In her report released in March, Public Protector Thuli Madonsela found that Zuma had derived undue benefit from the improvements made to his KwaZulu-Natal homestead.
But whereas she recommended that he should repay a portion of the cost, the SIU concluded that the best way of recovering state money lost at Nkandla was to claim it from Makhanya.
The SIU’s civil claim against Makhanya was postponed in the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Monday to February 25.
Source : Sapa /kd/aa/gm/ks
