Johannesburg - The presidency on Thursday denied a news report that the government failed to help a man who had asked President Jacob Zuma to help him buy a house.
“It is unfortunate that Mr Mali has sought publicity using information he knows to be untrue,” Zuma's spokesman Mac Maharaj said in a statement on Thursday morning, hours before the president was due to make hisState of the Nation address at the opening of Parliament.
The presidency was responding after Mzukisi Mali, from Grahamstown, told eNews the government had failed to assist him.
“In his communication to the president, Mr Mali said his salary was too high to qualify for an RDP house, and too low to get a mortgage bond,” said Maharaj.
“But it was discovered that Mr Mali earned more than the R15 000 threshold, and had a negative credit record. He works as a deputy director at the department of labour and therefore does not qualify for this type of assistance which is meant for low income earners.”
Maharaj said government officials had visited Mali twice to explain to him that he did not qualify. - Sapa