Social media weighs in on Mmusi Maimane 'over-declaring' R3.85m house

DA leader Mmusi Maimane has been dominating trend lists after reports by City Press and Rapport that he “over-declared” a R3.85m property he lives in with his family.

In September 2018, Maimane listed two houses as assets in the parliamentary register, one in Claremont, Cape Town, and the other in Roodepoort, Johannesburg.

According to the reports, only the Roodepoort house is registered in his name. The Cape Town home is registered in the name of businessman Wessel Jacobs, who confirmed ownership of the house to Rapport.

TimesLIVE reports that after the Afrikaans Sunday newspaper confronted him about declaring the house as an asset, Maimane said he was actually renting it from a friend. 

He said he had declared the property despite not owning it because he believed he was required to do so. 

Maimane and Jacobs have not divulged how much the property is being rented for.

On Sunday, the DA leader said he had rented the property because of safety concerns.

“I had initially taken the decision to move from the parliamentary village in Acacia Park due to threats against my family and me, including intimidation and death threats,” he said.

Despite the explanation, Twitter weighed in.

Listen to the latest episode of Sunday Times Politics Weekly

Will the DA’s identity crisis dethrone Maimane?

For more episodes, click here.

Subscribe: iono.fm | Spotify | Apple Podcast | Pocket Casts | Player.fm