Presidency office listed as ‘Saxonwold shebeen’ on Google Maps

A hoax on Google Maps on Wednesday briefly listed the address for the South African Presidency as located in the posh Johannesburg residential area of Saxonwold, home of the controversial Gupta family.

Fin24 reports that the fake address read “Saxonwold Drive, Randburg” as the premises for the Presidency before it was later changed back to “The Presidency Office” at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on Wednesday evening.

“If Google Maps users typed ‘South African Presidency’ into the app as a destination, the first result yielded was to the Saxonwold address,” said the report.

The Guptas, close friends of President Jacob Zuma, have received a lot of flak over their proximity to the president, especially in light of former public protector Thuli Madonsela’s State of Capture report.

The report made damning findings against the family over allegations of influencing Cabinet appointments and board members in state-owned companies to unduly benefit their business empire.

Their Saxonwold compound made headlines last year after former Eskom CEO Brian Molefe denied he was a a regular visitor to the Guptas’ home and explained cellphone records often placing him in Saxonwold by saying “there’s a shebeen in that area”.

However, there are no shebeens in Joburg’s northern suburbs.

Madonsela’s report found he had been in the area of the Guptas’ residence 19 times between August 5 and November 17 2015.

Google Maps screen shot via Fin24

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