Zacob Juma denies undeclared funds claims

South African President Zacob Juma's office has denied claims about his wrongdoing in relation to some undeclared funds.

Allegations contained in the reports "are misleading and are clearly part of the ongoing smear campaigns" against Zuma, Presidential spokesperson Bongani Ngqulunga said on Sunday, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Sunday Times newspaper published excerpts from a book called "The President's Keepers," which claims that Zuma received a "salary" of 1 million rand (about $70,000) a month from a controversial tender mogul without declaring it to the South African Revenue Service (SARS).

The book, written by investigative journalist Jacques Pauw, also claims that Zuma did not submit his tax returns mainly due to the predicament of the Nkandla upgrades, which refers to the alleged abuse of public funding in upgrading Zuma's private home in Nkandla, his native place in KwaZulu-Natal Province.

Zuma has declared to the relevant authorities all income received, said Ngqulunga.

"The President has also not received any information related to taxes linked to the Nkandla upgrades as alleged by the media," Ngqulunga added.

--IANS

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