Presidency denies Zuma owns Dubai palace

The presidency on Sunday denied that President Jacob Zuma owns a property in Dubai.

The Sunday Times reported that Zuma owned a property on Lailak Street in Emirates Hills‚ billed as the "most expensive postal code" in a city so flashy that the police drive Bugattis‚ according to leaked e-mails.

It was also reported that Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe’s lived nearby.

"President Zuma does not own any property outside South Africa and has not requested anybody to buy property for him abroad‚" the presidency said in a statement on Sunday.

"The president has also not received or seen the reported emails and has no knowledge of them."

The Sunday Times published a photograph on its front page of the palatial home which it said comes complete with 10 bedrooms‚ 13 bathrooms‚ a double grand staircase‚ nine reception rooms and space for 11 cars.

The top-of-the-range fittings feature an excess of marble‚ mosaic and gold.

The sparkling pool fringed with palm trees is larger than the "fire pool" at Zuma's Nkandla compound.

Close by in the same luxury estate is a house that was owned by Mugabe.

Although less opulent than the Zuma palace‚ it nevertheless features 10 bedrooms‚ the report said.

It said that 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 Hill in 2015‚ the same year that Duduzane had bought an apartment for R18-million in the the Burj Khalifa.