Johannesburg – The presidency on Sunday denied media reports that President Jacob Zuma "owns a palace" in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
"The story in the Sunday Times newspaper today, 4 June 2017, that President Jacob Zuma owns a 'palace' in Dubai is a fabrication," Zuma's spokesman Bongani Ngqulunga said in a statement.
Zuma did not own any property outside South Africa and had not "requested anybody to buy property for him abroad". Zuma had also not received or seen the reported emails and had no knowledge of them, Ngqulunga said.
Earlier, the Sunday Times reported that Zuma's friends, the wealthy, politically connected Gupta family, had bought him a luxurious Dubai mansion. "And his close neighbour in the exclusive gated estate is none other than Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe.
"Zuma's home is Villa L35 on Lailak Street in Emirates Hills, billed as the 'most expensive postal code' in a city so flashy that the police drive Bugattis," the newspaper reported. The palatial home came complete with 10 bedrooms, 13 bathrooms, a double grand staircase, nine reception rooms, and space for 11 cars. The top-of-the-range fittings featured an excess of marble, mosaic, and gold.
"During a Sunday Times investigative trip to Dubai last year, several independent sources told the newspaper the Guptas had bought Zuma a R330 million retirement home in the upmarket suburb of Emirates Hills in 2015, the same year that Duduzane Zuma [Zuma's son] bought an apartment for R18 million in the Burj Khalifa."
The sources included businessmen with companies or homes in Dubai, senior African National Congress officials, and people close to the Zuma family, the newspaper reported.
"At the time, however, the Sunday Times could only confirm that the Guptas had bought the house and that Duduzane had bought the Burj Khalifa apartment. The fact that the house was for Zuma has now apparently been confirmed in the leaked Gupta emails."
Last week the Sunday Times reported on two draft letters first circulated to Sahara CEO Ashu Chawla and then to Zuma's son Duduzane which appeared to suggest Zuma was planning to relocate to Dubai.
Both were addressed to His Highness Vice-President and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and appeared to be drafts prepared for Zuma's signature and bearing his name.
A third draft had emerged, listing the villa as Zuma's house, the Sunday Times reported.
"I am happy to inform you that my family has decided to make the UAE, and specifically Dubai, a second home and have already acquired a residence located at Emirates Hills, Dubai (Villa No L-35, Lailak Street No1)," said the third draft letter, according to the newspaper.