Niehaus has not repaid debts

2012-05-03 22:06

Johannesburg - Former ANC spokesperson Carl Niehaus on Thursday said he had not paid back all his debts.

"I have settled as far as possible my debt and I have made arrangements," he told Talk Radio 702 on Thursday evening.

This came after Niehaus told breakfast show host John Robbie on Wednesday that he had paid back all his debts.

Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Derek Hanekom wrote on social networking site Twitter on Wednesday that this was "not quite true".

"He [Niehaus] has not made any attempt to repay loans he obtained," Hanekom wrote.

Niehaus also said that he was up for a job within the African National Congress in the near future. However on Thursday he denied saying this.

On Wednesday he said: "Soon there will be a formal position, but let the ANC talk about that, not me."

"It is very important to let the ANC talk about ANC positions. All I can say to you is my involvement in the ANC is increasing by the day."

Niehaus told radio host David O'Sullivan on Thursday evening that he never stated that there was a job.

"I said I am involved in the ANC and that there may be a chance."

O'Sullivan challenged Niehaus and played him a sound clip from his interview with Robbie.

The ANC said it did not know anything about a job opportunity for Niehaus.

Earlier, his spokesperson Tonny Sauls said in a statement: "He simply confirmed his continued involvement with the ANC.

"He stated that it is for the ANC to decide how his skills and ability can be utilised, and that it was not a matter for him to pronounce on."

Sauls said reports stating anything else were a "wilful and deliberate distortion of what he said in the interview".

In 2009 Niehaus admitted to forging signatures of senior Gauteng provincial government figures in order to secure a loan.

This came after claims surfaced that he had allegedly engaged in fraud and lies to maintain an expensive lifestyle that left him seeped in debt.

These included lies about him obtaining a doctorate, a fraudulent letter to obtain a loan and reports of millions of rands of debt, default payments and judgments against his name.

At the time, the ANC initially said he would be re-deployed within the party, but later said Niehaus had withheld information from it and therefore opted to place him on a leave of absence.

Niehaus resigned following this announcement. He has largely been out of the media spotlight since then.

- SAPA