Zuma submits financial disclosures to cabinet

President Jacob Zuma discloses his personal financial details to Cabinet yearly, the presidency said.

"Members of the national executive of government submit their disclosures to the secretary of Cabinet who maintains a register," spokesman Mac Maharaj said in a statement on Wednesday night.

"The President therefore submits his disclosure annually to the secretary of Cabinet."

He was responding to a challenge from AgangSA leader Mamphela Ramphele on Wednesday to Zuma to reveal details about his personal wealth."

"I call upon President Zuma to publish his accounts immediately. What is there to hide?" she asked reporters in Johannesburg.

"South Africans deserve a president that sets a good example for the rest of the country to follow."

Maharaj said: "The Constitution of 1996 and the Executive Members Ethics Act, 1998, prescribe the nature, content and form in which members of the Cabinet and the executive councils disclose their financial interests annually".

African National Congress spokesman Jackson Mthembu said on Thursday that politicians declaring their interests was nothing new to the party, which had adopted this policy years ago.

"President Zuma has been doing that for years, as president, it's a must that he must declare it.

"It has been happening for years, it's nothing new. But as the ANC, we don't brag in the public domain about what we have."

Rather, the ruling party concentrated on improving the lives of ordinary South Africans and tackling societal inequalities.

Ramphele claimed that Zuma had avoided revealing these details.

"President Zuma has used a convenient technicality to side-step this requirement. From his inauguration... the president has dodged the issue for over 1565 days to date. With each passing day suspicion about his integrity mounts," she said.