Zuma has already visited his mansion in Dubai, claims Malema

EFF leader Julius Malema has confirmed that he agrees with the allegation that President Jacob Zuma has a house in Dubai.

In a press conference about the Gupta email saga at the party’s offices in Braamfontein on Thursday, Malema said that when the president allegedly took R6 billion to Dubai in a suitcase, he also visited the mansion.

The EFF was working on getting the street name and CCTV footage to prove the president does own a house in Dubai. It’s unclear if this means that Zuma’s house may in fact be a different property to the one reported on in the Sunday Times, the address of which is already known.

“Dubai has cameras on every street. We are working to get the footage around that house on that day Zuma went,” he said.

The Sunday Times on Sunday reported that the controversial Gupta family had bought Zuma 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 publication 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 world’s tallest skyscraper.

The sources included businessmen with companies or homes in Dubai, senior African National Congress officials, and people close to the Zuma family, the publication added.

“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 year, City Press also reported on the same property, saying only that it was purchased by the Guptas.

The president, however, rubbished the report in the Sunday Times and said it was “a fabrication”.

“President Zuma does not own any property outside South Africa and has not requested anybody to buy property for him abroad.

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

Though the emails have been disputed, Malema confirmed his party was looking into all the leaked emails, saying his security company was linking every email to a minister and would use this connection of the dots to impeach them in parliament.

“Why would you deny that the emails are real when individuals implicated in them have confirmed the contents?” Malema asked.

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