President Cyril Ramaphosa was merely walking past the house of controversial tenderpreneur Hangwani Morgan Maumela in September 2023, said his spokesperson Vincent Magwenya.
Magwenya said this when he was responding to a video clip going viral on social media showing Ramaphosa standing outside Maumela’s house in Sandhurst, Johannesburg, with radio and television personality DJ Tbo Touch.
Magwenya was speaking on Monday during a media briefing to update the public on Ramaphosa’s programme and address topical issues of interest. The media briefing took place at the Union Buildings Media Centre in Pretoria.
He said Ramaphosa was walking as a form of exercise with his then special advisor Jomo Sibiya on September 29 2023 when they were stopped by Tbo Touch in front of Maumela’s house.
“The presidency would like to address falsehoods that have been spread through a video showing the president with DJ Tbo Touch outside Morgan Maumela’s house.
“The video shows four gentlemen, namely, Deputy Minister Jomo Sibiya, who at the time the video was recorded on the 29th of September 2023, was the special advisor to the president; you see president Ramaphosa in the middle with famous radio DJ, Tbo Touch and Bishop Noel Jones.
Walking to keeping fit
“It is well known that president Ramaphosa loves to walk whenever he finds time, that is how he keeps himself fit. On this day he had invited Mr Sibiya on a walk, which is something he does regularly to invite his staff, even ministers, for walks,” said Magwenya.
“They passed a house which is now well known as Maumela’s house. As they were passing this house, they were stopped by Tbo Touch, who was in the company of his mentor and friend, Bishop Noel Jones. They took pictures and recorded a video. During the walk, the president had stopped and spoken to several people along the way, including taking pictures with those people,” said Magwenya.
“Indeed, where you see them is in front of Maumela’s house, but they were not visiting the house or coming out of the house. It so happened that Tbo Touch stopped his car to greet the president as he was walking past what is now well known as Maumela’s house. The president did not even know whose house it was.
The president regularly takes walks and drives past the house because this is the street that is not too far from his house in Hyde Park. It is a street that he would use when driving to and from Sandton. I also do use the same street quite often when going to the president’s house coming from a Sandton direction or when departing the house heading in a northerly direction,” said Magwenya.
Maumela is Ramaphosa’s ex-nephew
Magwenya confirmed that Maumela is Ramaphosa’s ex-nephew from a previous marriage.
“We have also heard a claim that the President visits Maumela’s house every week. It’s a complete lie that the president visits Maumela’s house or anybody every week…President Ramaphosa maintains that he has no personal relationship with Maumela. He is not related to him except that he was once married to Maumela’s aunt.
“We note the ongoing desperate media attempts to link the president to this gentleman. As the president’s office, we have gone further to obtain confirmation from DJ Tbo Touch that the video and picture were his original post. He was coming from the airport, going to the Saxon Hotel with Bishop Noel Jones.
“At the time, what we now know as Maumela’s house was under construction; the president had no knowledge of whose house it was. Therefore, we reject the suggestion that the president may have been visiting Maumela’s house as being very far from the truth,” said Magwenya.
Called a family gathering
Magwenya said just before Ramaphosa was appointed deputy president, he gathered his immediate family and relatives and sternly instructed all of them to either exit or stop any business that they did or intended to do with the government or state institutions.
“Maumela was not part of that family gathering. He couldn’t have been part of the meeting because he is not part of the president’s immediate family. It is for this reason that we are going to consistently reject the narrative that seeks to link his existence and whatever else he is involved in to the president,” said Magwenya.
Last week, the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) raided Maumela’s house and seized three Lamborghini vehicles.
According to the SIU’s interim report released last month, Maumela is part of three syndicates responsible for looting more than R2-billion from Tembisa Provincial Tertiary Hospital through fraudulent tenders.
SIU head Adv Andy Mothibi said among the three coordinated syndicates responsible for the R2-billion looting is the Maumela Syndicate.
