Durban - President Jacob Zuma's backers should rather donate money to the needy than attempt to bail him out, the IFP said on Monday.
“President Zuma is not poor, he can afford to pay his debt,” Inkatha Freedom Party secretary general Sibongile Nkomo said in a statement.
“With his monthly salary, he can afford to pay all his debt without any bail-out.”
She said Zuma could not accept an offer to pay back the money spent on his Nkandla homestead, as this would mean he acknowledged that it constituted unlawful spending of public funds.
The Sunday Times reported that KwaZulu-Natal tycoon Philani Mavundla had offered to raise funds and settle Zuma's Nkandla “debt”.
Nkomo said Zuma's so-called backers would be wasting their money.
“There are many people in our country who are in desperate need of food and shelter, therefore these so-called good Samaritans should divert their goodwill to help those in need, as they are the ones who deserve assistance.”
In March, Public Protector Thuli Madonsela found that Zuma had derived undue benefit from the upgrades and recommended that he pay back a portion of the money.
Zuma declined to do so, and instead waited for the outcome of another investigation by the Special Investigating Unit.
The SIU blamed Zuma's architect Minenhle Makhanya for inflating the costs of the Nkandla project, and filed a civil claim against him for R155m in the Pietermaritzburg High Court on August 11.
Makhanya has hired high-profile lawyers to contest the case.
Sapa