President Cyril Ramaphosa has denied any connection to alleged tender fraud kingpin, Hangwani Morgan Maumela.
“The president maintains that he has no personal relationship with Maumela. He is not related to him, except that he was married to his aunt many years ago,” Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said on 13 October.
Maumela has garnered significant attention recently, with the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) releasing its interim report on the Tembisa Hospital corruption, alongside several exposés by News24.
On 29 September, the SIU updated the public on the “devastating plunder of the public purse” at Tembisa Hospital in Gauteng, exposing several coordinated syndicates responsible for siphoning off over R2 billion intended for healthcare services.
The Maumela syndicate was involved in 1,728 bundles valued at R816 million, with 924 analyses completed thus far.
His syndicate, including the “Hosh network”, secured contracts at extreme markups, such as selling four plastic buckets for R40,000 instead of a several hundred.
As the interim report by the unit notes:
“They run Tembisa Hospital like their own private business, wheeling and dealing with corrupt service providers to support their lavish lifestyles at the expense of human life and the dignity of the patients.”
“The money looted was intended to line their own pockets; it was never intended to provide crucial medical care to the most vulnerable people within our country.”
News24’s Silenced: Why Babita Deokaran had to die uncovered, among other things, Maumela as a central figure in a massive corruption syndicate that siphoned billions from Tembisa Hospital through inflated tenders.
The probe followed the assassination of Babita Deokaran, a single mother and chief accountant at the Gauteng Department of Health, who had flagged R850 million in suspicious payments just days before her assasination.
The investigation traced Maumela’s rapid acquisition of luxury properties, later sold to try evade the SIU.
Ramaphosa distances himself from Maumela
Maumela is the nephew of Ramaphosa’s first wife. However, the President has consistently denied any relationship with him whatsoever.
Magwenya said Ramaphosa has never met Maumela, despite social media claims linking the two.
At the October 13th briefing, Ramaphosa’s spokesperson said that the President has no personal relationship with the tenderpreneur.
A video taken on September 29, 2023 by DJ Thabo “Tbo Touch” Molefe was widely shared on Friday showing Ramaphosa smiling for a photo with three men outside Maumela’s mansion in Sandhurst, Sandton.
The video shows Ramaphosa with Deputy Minister of Employment and Labour Jomo Sibiya, who was at the time a special adviser to the President – DJ Tbo Touch, and Bishop Noel Jones.
The street in which Maumela’s house is located is also used as a through road because it connects the area with the Sandton CBD.
“The President is someone who loves to walk and had invited Mr Sibiya to join him that day,” Magwenya said. Then the other two were allegedly passing by and hopped out the car for a photo.
“They were not visiting the house or coming out of the house. The president did not even know whose house it was at the time,” Magwenya said.
“The street where Maumela’s house is located is one the President often uses when walking or driving to and from his residence,” Magwenya said. “It’s less than a kilometre from his home, so it’s not unusual to see him in that area.”
The spokesperson dismissed claims that Ramaphosa visits Maumela’s house, calling them “a complete lie.”
He said that prior to coming into office, Ramaphosa told his immediate family and relatives “to either exit or stop any business that they did or intended to do with the government or any state institution.”
“Maumela was not at that family gathering. He could not have been part of that meeting because he’s not part of the president’s immediate family.”
It is worth noting that a nephew is not typically considered part of the “immediate family,” which usually includes parents, siblings, children, and a spouse.
“We are going to consistently reject the narrative that seeks to link his existence and whatever else he is involved in to the president,” Magwenya said.
ActionSA MP Alan Beesley told Newsday that he is, however, “deeply concerned about this relationship. Often the public has been told about non-existent relationships, which later are proved otherwise.”
SIU asset recoveries and reactions
Acting on an interim order issued by the Special Tribunal, the SIU, SAPS, and Johannesburg Metro Police launched an asset preservation operation on 9 October 2025, targeting the Maumela syndicate.
The order covered a wide range of assets, including luxury vehicles, jewellery, art, cash, electronic devices, and financial holdings such as bank accounts, shares, cryptocurrency, and company interests.
Thursday’s operation was divided into two parts. One team was in Sandhurst, Gauteng and another at a dealership in Emalahleni, Mpumalanga.
In Sandhurst, Gauteng, the following assets were secured:
- A property in Sandhurst: estimated value R70 million
- Three Lamborghinis: estimated value R25 million
- Household contents: estimated value R3 million
- Security in respect of the Household contents: estimated value R500,000
In Emalahleni, Mpumalanga, there were:
- Two Aston Martin luxury cars
- One Ferrari luxury car
- One Rolls-Royce luxury car
The overall operation resulted in the seizure of assets worth about R133.5 million across Sandhurst in Sandton and Emalahleni in Mpumalanga, with further recoveries expected as operations continue in other provinces.
“The orders are a critical step in our commitment to claw back every cent that was stolen from the public purse, specifically Tembisa Hospital,” said SIU Head Advocate Andy Mothibi.
Beesley, who sits on Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) told Newsday that the raid “is highly welcomed, and the SIU must be applauded for the speed and manner in which the raid was undertaken.”
“The accumulation and of Maumela’s assets at the expense of South Africans, particularly those using public hospitals, is a disgrace and not only must he forfeit all his assets, but he must also face the full might of the criminal justice system.”
DA Gauteng Shadow Health MEC Dr Jack Bloom said while the SIU deserved credit for the progress made, its findings were only an interim report.
“The final report will only be completed next year, and we know from experience that the NPA is far too slow when it comes to acting on such findings. The NPA must move faster. The evidence is already clear. It’s time for prosecutions,” he stated.
He said while asset seizures were a “good and necessary” step by the SIU, it must not stop here.
Assets linked to Maumela retrieved by the SIU
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