LISTEN: Zuma laughed off Gareth Cliff's 'raping the government' comments - spokesman

President Jacob Zuma may have been the victim of a scathing attack by radio host Gareth Cliff this week, but according to his spokesperson, the president laughed off the criticism.

Gareth Cliff told listeners of his show on CliffCentral this week that the president is “raping government of every cent", by trying to get as much money as he can out of state enterprises.

Spokesperson in the presidency Bongani Ngqulunga called into Gareth Cliff’s CliffCentral radio show on Friday morning to address these claims and explain that a presidential council was being set up to co-ordinate state-owned enterprises and not run them.

He said that the president has full confidence in Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and denied that President Zuma was looking to shuffle his cabinet again.

Ngqulunga also revealed that he had told the president about Gareth's comments and that the president had laughed them off.

"I told him that you had said some unkind things about him and he laughed and said 'well, it is Gareth what do you expect?''' Ngqulunga said to laughter around the studio.

Ngqulunga said that the president is largely unfazed by criticism levelled against him and that he understands it comes with the position of being president.

"He has a very cheerful personality and he does not take some of the attacks against him personally. He is a politician, he chose to be a politician and it comes with the position," Ngqulunga said.

Ngqulunga's response comes only days after Cliff took to his radio show to react to news of a Hawks' investigation into Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan on Thursday. In his comments, he claimed that the president is trying to "escape with as much money as he can from state enterprises".

Cliff said that that the president realises that "power is slipping" out of his control, and is under pressure from the ANC, which could result him wanting to "retire in some Arab country".

Gordhan was summoned to appear before the Hawks on Thursday about allegations related to his role in the formation and activities of the so-called "rogue unit"  when he was head of the SA Revenue Service. He has since issued a statement saying that he would not present himself to the Hawks and that he felt there was no case against him.

Former Sars deputy commissioner Ivan Pillay and former group executive of tax and customs enforcement investigations Johann van Loggerenberg have already presented themselves to the Hawks.