TimesLive reports that the saga of the refurbishing of President Jacob Zuma's Nkandla home with taxpayers' money enters a new chapter on Monday as disciplinary hearings against 10 Department of Public Works (DPW) officials begin in Durban.  

The Pietermaritzburg High Court has ruled that the disciplinary hearings should be open to the media.  The DPW officials have been described as the "scapegoats" and "fall guys" in the allocation of blame for the R246-million of public money spent on the Nkandla upgrading.  Zuma was censured by the Constitutional Court and ordered to pay back R7.8-million.  Sibusiso Chonco, deputy director for utilisations and contracts in the Durban office of the DPW, is the first person to face action.  His hearing is set for Monday and Tuesday, while the hearings of other officials will be next month.  One official of the original 12 pleaded guilty last year and was suspended without pay for three months.  A second official died in a car crash.  The officials are broadly charged with having not followed procurement processes in the appointment of contractors in the upgrading of the Nkandla homestead.  They are being defended by the Public Servants Association (PSA).

• Read this report by Matthew Savides in full at TimesLive

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