Mac Maharaj stayed for free at an exclusive ministerial village throughout his tenure as President Jacob Zuma's spokesman. Maharaj, who retired as Zuma's spokesman in April, lived at the Bryntirion Estate in Pretoria - home to cabinet ministers and their deputies - for five years at taxpayers' expense.The Public Works Department, which administers the estate, confirmed that the former presidential spokesman was allocated a state house there, but denied that this was against the accommodation rules contained in the ministerial handbook.Mzwandile Sazona, a national co-ordinator of the department's Prestige Unit, which administers presidential and ministerial homes, said Maharaj stayed at the house from January 2010 until his retirement from the Presidency in April.He denied that, by being allocated a house at the complex, Maharaj was accorded a status reserved for cabinet members."Maharaj was not allocated a ministerial house. The Department of Public Works gave Maharaj a state-owned house early in January 2010 after he was appointed as a special envoy to the president in 2009 and later as presidential spokesman in 2011. He needed to be close to the president because of the nature of his work," said Sazona in a written reply to questions.story_article_left1This arrangement raised eyebrows in government circles as no other senior civil servant or presidential special envoy enjoyed this benefit.Maharaj refused to comment on the arrangement and referred the Sunday Times to his employers. "Don't ask me for comment. For all matters related to my employment, go to the South African government," he said.Presidential spokesman Bongani Majola said the arrangement was between Maharaj and the Public Works Department - and didn't involve the Union Buildings. "The Presidency does not allocate housing. Personnel requiring accommodation would normally approach the Department of Public Works, especially in Cape Town for sessional staff," he said.In Pretoria, Majola said, "Presidency staff live in their own homes".He further stated that the Presidency "has no special benefits for special envoys", suggesting that Maharaj's arrangement with public works was unusual, if not irregular.The Sunday Times has established that Zuma's other special envoys - former social development minister Zola Skweyiya and ex-deputy foreign affairs minister Aziz Pahad - live in their own private homes.The ministerial handbook states that only the president and his executive, premiers and their MECs, the chief justice and his deputy, as well as executive mayors, are entitled to free accommodation in state-owned homes. Full-time special advisers have a housing allowance as part of their remuneration package.But in his reply, Sazona said the ministerial handbook was merely "a guideline for the allocation of the resources for the executive".By occupying the state-owned house, Maharaj - who reportedly earned more than R2-million a year as Zuma's spokesman - had access to free cleaning services as public works is responsible for costs of employing domestic workers.Majola confirmed that, during his tenure, Maharaj had access to a driver, paid for by the state.story_article_right2"The Presidency assists all staff who have a disability by assigning drivers to take them to work and to official assignments. Mr Mac Maharaj is blind in one eye and is of an advanced age," said Majola.According to a senior government official, public works had attempted to compel Maharaj to pay rent, but the veteran politician allegedly refused. But Sazona disputed this, saying Maharaj was not required to pay a cent.Maharaj made headlines a few weeks ago when he told the London-based Financial Times that he had advised Zuma to be prepared to pay a portion of the R246-million spent to refurbish his private Nkandla home, even before public protector Thuli Madonsela released her investigation report.A senior government official with intimate knowledge of how special envoys are remunerated said it would be an abnormality for someone in such a position to be allocated a state-owned house."I have never heard of such. Unless the president has decided that he or she is in the same category as ministers," said the insider."Remuneration depends on the nature of the appointment. The president may decide that 'I'll pay this special envoy at the director-general level'. But some special envoys are not even paid." - Additional reporting by Jan-Jan Joubert..