The Presidency has spent R17.9 million in catering over the past five years, according to a report on Saturday.

According to the Saturday Star, the figures were presented by Minister in the Presidency for Performance Monitoring and Evaluation, Collins Chabane, when responding to a parliamentary question.

He was quoted as saying: "The presidency hosted a number of events and activities that required catering and entertainment, including functions, meetings, cabinet lekgotlas, official state visits, cluster meetings, ministerial meetings, national orders ceremonies and hospitality of a similar nature for high-ranking officials within the presidency."

The paper stated that the presidency's spending was, however, at its lowest this year in comparison to the past five years.

In 2007/8, about R4.1 millionm was spent on catering and R118 220 on entertainment/ In the 2011/12 financial year, R2.7 million was spent in catering and R77 698 on entertaining."

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has however slammed the presidency and President Jacob Zuma for their spending habits.

DA spokesman on the presidency Joe McGluwa said he would write to Zuma and urge him to "freeze the presidency's spending on luxuries such as catering and entertainment," he told the paper.