Spokesperson for the unit, Sefura Mongalo, said Vas Soni – who had been appointed to the post by President Jacob Zuma in September 2013 – wanted to spend time with his wife, who had not been well the last five months.
During his career one of Soni’s tasks included conducting an investigation into President Jacob Zuma’s Nkandla home.
Soni is believed to be going into private practice.
eNCA quoted him as saying that he had found the position very “stressful” and that he had not expected what a challenge the job would be.
“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 said.
Report found Zuma benefitted
The SIU’s report found that President Zuma was enriched by the state-funded improvements to his residence, but placed the blame for the millions lost on the shoulders of his architect Minenhle Makhanya.
It opted to recover the excess money spent from Makhanya himself, instead of trying to get it from a number of people who had benefited.
The 245-page report said the probe had shown that as a result of Makhanya’s actions, the state had suffered losses of about R155-million and many people, including Zuma and his family, had benefited.
The president and his family had derived benefit in that their home was enhanced.
The SIU argued its case in the Pietermaritzburg high court last year, where Makhanya was appealing the claim that he had had authorised structures that were not security measures, pushing up the price ten times.
Makhanya’s case has been postponed to February 25.
Public Protector Thuli Madonsela in her March report last year also found that Zuma had derived undue benefit from the improvements made to his homestead in the KwaZulu-Natal hamlet. – Sapa, Staff Reporter