Johannesburg: South African President Jacob Zuma denied acting dishonestly during a long-running scandal over improper state spending at his private Nkandla home, the day after a scathing constitutional court ruling on the saga.

In an address to the nation on Friday evening, Zuma said his response to a report by Public Protector Thuli Madonsela, a constitutionally mandated watchdog, ordering him to repay some of the money was “in good faith” but based on unsound legal advice.

“I wish to emphasise that I never knowingly or deliberately set out to violate the constitution,” Zuma said.

“Any action that has been found not to be in keeping with the constitution happened because of a different approach and different legal advice,” he said, before issuing an apology for the “frustration and confusion” caused by the scandal.

Opposition parties, who have been calling for the 73-year-old to resign, dismissed his pronouncements as misleading.

Leaders of his ruling African National Congress (ANC) party were due to hold a news conference on the matter.

The opposition has launched impeachment proceedings against Zuma, but these are unlikely to be successful because of the ANC’s strong majority in parliament.

However, some South Africans believe the scandal could still bring down the 73-year-old leader by persuading some in the ANC to abandon him.

The rand, which has been pummelled since December by a string of Zuma-related scandals, was 1 per cent stronger against the dollar as he started to speak, but pulled back slightly as market speculation he might resign diminished.

Zuma faced a chorus of calls earlier on Friday to step down after a court ruled that he breached the constitution in a judgement that engulfed him in a fresh bout of controversy.

The main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, hailed the damning verdict by the country’s top court that Zuma had violated the constitution in a dispute over public funds spent on his private home.

“This judgement is an immense victory for democracy, for the rule of law, and for the people of South Africa,” DA leader Mmusi Maimane told reporters on Friday.

“It simply cannot be business as usual when president Zuma has been found to have violated the constitution.”

The party has launched impeachment proceedings against Zuma but the move is likely to fail as it would require the support of a two-thirds majority in parliament.

But the attempt will keep Zuma’s misdeeds in the public eye ahead of the municipal elections later this year when the ANC risks losing control of Gauteng province, which includes the cities of Johannesburg and Pretoria.

The storm of press criticism focused on Zuma’s refusal to comply with an ombudswoman’s orders to repay money spent on a swimming pool, chicken run, cattle enclosure and amphitheatre at his rural homestead.

“There is only one way South Africa can escape a full-blown constitutional crisis... and that would be his resignation or dismissal,” said the Sowetan newspaper.

“He has no legal or moral authority to govern.”

The upgrades, which were valued in 2014 at 216 million rand (then Dh88million, $24 million), became a symbol of alleged corruption and greed within the ANC that has ruled since Nelson Mandela came to power in 1994 after the end of apartheid.

Zuma loyalists fought back to defend the president, who is due to retire in 2019 when his second term in office ends.

“We have learnt lessons from the judgement’ and wish to state it unequivocally’ unambiguously and categorically clear that we firmly stand behind the ANC President,” the influential ANC Women’s League said in a statement.

Zuma on Thursday issued a brief statement saying he accepted the Constitutional Court’s ruling.

His presidency has been rocked in recent months by his sacking of two finance ministers within days, and allegations that a wealthy business family had so much influence that they could appoint ministers.