The ANC's national working committee also discussed that the report be made public today in the presence of Zuma when it met on Tuesday.

Government had undertaken to make the report public earlier this month, but that was stopped when former president Nelson Mandela died on December 5. It took the decision after ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said the report should be made public to quell the allegations that Zuma had benefited personally and that government was protecting him.

The Mail &Guardian published a leaked draft report by Public Protector Thuli Madonsela which was damning on Zuma, demanding that he should repay the state and explain himself to Parliament. It was reported a swimming pool, visitors' centre, amphitheatre, cattle kraal, marquee area, extensive paving and new houses for relocated relatives were all improperly included in the security upgrade.

Madonsela is expected to release her final report next month. But the interministerial report had long been completed and exonerates Zuma. The inter-ministerial committee released its findings based on a classified report, which was drafted by a task team appointed by the security cluster ministers to investigate the security measures at Zuma's home.

The state claimed that it needed to upgrade the security after it found a high risk of earthquakes, volatile politics and high levels of rape in the Nkandla region. The report failed to provide details on what the R206-million was spent on.

ANC spokesman Jackson Mthembu said yesterday that the ruling party would be happy if the full report was made public. "The president cannot be judged based on snippets of leaked reports," he said.