Updated

South Africa's president says he has done nothing wrong despite a scandal surrounding costly state upgrades to his private home that have ignited a debate about alleged corruption ahead of May 7 elections.

The New Age newspaper on Monday quoted President Jacob Zuma as saying opposition parties seeking to bring criminal charges against him for alleged misuse of state money will fail because, "there is no case."

On March 19, South Africa's state watchdog agency released a report concluding that Zuma inappropriately benefited from state funding and should pay back some money.

More than $20 million was spent for alleged security upgrades at Zuma's rural Nkandla residence. The watchdog report says some of the spending had nothing to do with security.