The Presidency on Sunday disputed a media report suggesting that further upgrades to President Jacob Zuma's Nkandla residence - using public money - were in the pipeline.
"The Presidency has noted with concern a report in the Sunday Times newspaper about alleged plans by the Department of Public Works to renovate certain aspects of the president's Nkandla residence," said spokesperson Dr Bongani Ngqulunga.
"There are no renovations of the private houses at the President's residence at Nkandla currently and no government department has indicated any proposal for renovations.
"We also wish to underscore that no government department, including the Department of Public Works, will be permitted to renovate any of the President's private houses in Nkandla," he added.
The Sunday Times alleged that assessments were underway to establish where upgrades to the homestead needed to be made both to repair previous poor workmanship and also address security concerns.
The newspaper quoted public works chief director for legal services Barnie Ntlou as saying that "the process has just started" to assess what further work was needed at Zuma's KwaZulu-Natal residence.
"We are forced to do that. We can't allow a presidential residence to be dilapidated," Ntlou was quoted as saying by the Sunday Times. -- News24