President Jacob Zuma has met with apartheid crime prisoner Eugene de Kock, but it was last year, his spokesman said.
"It was some time in April, last year. He requested to see the president and the president granted that. I am not at liberty to discuss the contents of the meeting," Vincent Magwenya said.
He would also not elaborate on whether corruption parolee Schabir Shaik was among the presidential pardons being considered.
Opposition parties have expressed concern about a potential pardon for Shaik, convicted of fraud and corruption in a trial that focused on whether he had facilitated a bribe for Zuma from an arms company.
"I think that issue has been clarified enough. I'm not going to comment any further on it," Magwenya said.
The DA maintains Shaik has applied for pardon, although Zuma told etv that Shaik had not applied for one. The party claims a source in the presidency informed it that Shaik had applied for one.
The presidency then released a statement, saying it received the application on April 24, 2008.
"The application will be processed like all other applications. The president must consider every application brought before him in terms of his Constitutional responsibilities, as outlined in Section 84(2)(j) of the Constitution of the Republic."
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