The company listed president Jacob Zuma’s luxury homestead, Nkandla, as one of the homes available for hire for weekend breaks, longer holidays and extended stays. Historically, April Fool’s Day is a day on which nothing is sacred and when most corporate institutions around the world are fair game, sometimes at their own instigation.

By Noon on April Fool’s Day, the listing had been viewed by almost 1200 people. By close of day, this had risen to 4305 and the listing had prompted 17 people to respond saying they would want to hire the recently renovated compound as a holiday home. These people were let in on the joke and offered a SafariNow Sunshine Voucher to use when they booked ‘real’ accommodation via the web site.

The prank was brought to SafariNow and facilitated by marketing consultancy, HaveYouHeard, after being conceived by a group of students at the Red & Yellow School of Advertising in response to a task set by a lecturer. He thought the idea had merit and passed it along.

Commenting on the prank, SafariNow CEO, Tom Williams, said: "SafariNow is committed to providing clients with more variety, more options and more exclusive destinations than anyone else. This is entrenched in our operating mantra ‘Accommodation. Everywhere. For Everyone’."

"To demonstrate this philosophy in action, we decided to offer South Africans an opportunity to experience a weekend at the most elite destination in the land, the Presidential Homestead, he says. "The listing is a tongue-in-cheek spoof designed to lighten the country’s mood and to give South Africa a smile – in line with our ‘sunshine for the soul’ mantra."

He adds: "We know that our President has a sense of humour. And we know that we’re a nation in need of a bit of light relief at the moment. To date, it seems that the prank has been received in the spirit in which it was conceived, and for that we are very glad."

"For what it’s worth, we never intended to make any political statement or to align themselves with any political party with this stunt. You’ll note that we’ve attempted to maintain a path of neutrality in the affair, and used this as an opportunity to poke fun at other political parties and characters," Williams concludes.