The Special Investigations Unit on Tuesday said that it had not yet received a formal request from the Department of Public Works to probe allegations of wrong-doing in the upgrading of President Jacob Zuma's residence at Nkandla.
On Sunday, Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi said that the SIU would be asked to investigate whether any officials or contractors behaved illegally in driving up to R206-million what he said were the security costs of the KwaZulu-Natal home.
He said that no taxpayers' money was spent on the renovations, but questioned the choice of service providers used and said that 15 of them were being probed.
The report revealed that R71-million was spent directly on security, while a further R135-million was spent on operational costs incurred by state departments involved in the upgrade.
The SIU said that it would only be able to formally comment on the Nkandla issue once a complaint had been filed.
However, the SIU is authorised to act only when an investigation is proclaimed by Zuma.
This means it would have to be Zuma himself who formally asked the unit to investigate government spending on his own residence.
Justice Minister Jeff Radebe announced at the weekend that a new SIU boss would be appointed in February.
A Roodepoort man accused of masturbating in front of primary school pupils has been denied bail.
Soccer boss Jomo Sono is reportedly at the centre of a "blackmail campaign" against Dina Pule.
South Africa may lose some public holidays following complaints from religious groups.
