A neighbour living on the exclusive Sandton street where Hangwani Maumela’s house was raided by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) last week in connection with the R2bn Tembisa Hospital scandal, claims that President Cyril Ramaphosa is a frequent visitor.
Ramaphosa admitted to knowing Maumela during a question-and-answer session in Parliament on Tuesday, after previously denying ever meeting him.
This is not the first time Ramaphosa’s relationship with Maumela has been raised – in 2022, DA leader John Steenhuisen asked the president about the relationship, and Ramaphosa denied that it existed.
At the weekend, Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, after video footage emerged of Ramaphosa outside Maumela’s home, stated that Ramaphosa did not know him and that this was a coincidence – a claim Magwenya repeated during a media briefing on Monday.
But on Tuesday, Ramaphosa explained that while walking in his neighbourhood, he met Maumela outside Maumela’s house in 2023 and 2024.
He said, ‘I am Hangwani Maumela.’ I said, ‘So you are the Maumela who is putting my name into disrepute.’ He smiled. I walked away from home.”
Ramaphosa further elaborated on a more personal connection, explaining that his first wife was Maumela’s aunt, a marriage that ended 43 years ago.
A neighbor along the street has told the media that Ramaphosa is a frequent visitor to Maumela’s home. The neighbor said Ramaphosa will visit the homestead frequently on his walks.
