Johannesburg - A large part of the renovation in President Jacob Zuma's homestead in Nkandla was paid for by his family, the president said on Thursday.
“When people see my house on the TV, they must be thinking that government has built this for me. No. A large part of that… has been done by the family. How then this was done, I would not want to judge,” he told a Black Business Summit in Midrand, Johannesburg.
Zuma said he did not know the cost of the improvement of security features at his home.
“I think the ministers have given the answers and if people want to pursue that, they'll pursue it. I don't question the security measures that government takes in relation to presidents, vice-presidents, ministers or MEC. It is what is regulated somehow. They have their own way of assessing the situation,” he said.
There has been a public outcry on the renovations of Zuma's house, which were reported to cost over R200 million.
Zuma said he believed that because there was no supporting infrastructure in rural Nkandla, it would be more expensive to build security features there than in an urban area.
However, Zuma did not want to commit himself on the amount used to renovate his Nkandla private home.
“I would not want to comment or judge because these matters are handled by the ministers and the Auditor General. They know how the budgets are done, I can't make myself an expert on those ones,” he said. - Sapa