Niehaus 'lied to get free holiday'
2009-02-17 08:53
Johannesburg - Former ANC spokesperson Carl Niehaus allegedly got a R100 000 holiday to Mauritius for free, it was reported on Tuesday.
Niehaus allegedly got the owner of an East London travel agency to pay upfront for a holiday for himself and his family to Mauritius, and then never paid up.
"He got a free holiday and I lost my Christmas bonus," Let's Travel owner Cheryl Clur told The Star newspaper.
Niehaus allegedly approached her six years ago and played on her sympathies by saying he had cancer.
"He told me he had been ill with leukaemia, had chemotherapy and wanted a holiday for his wife and two children. He played on my emotions with his illness."
When Niehaus returned from the holiday, Clur tried in vain to get him to pay up. He only paid her back about R20 000.
"When I read the SMS he sent to the people that he owed money to, published in the Sunday Times, it was like deja vu."
Fraud revelations
Beeld also reported that Niehaus did not get a doctor's degree in theology from the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands, as he had claimed.
On Friday, the ANC held a press briefing confirming Niehaus's resignation after the Mail and Guardian reported allegations of fraud against Niehaus, most of which he admitted to in an interview with the paper.
The Sunday Times reported that Niehaus was facing eviction from his R45 000-a-month Midrand home after apparently owing his landlord over R300 000. The paper published text messages allegedly sent by Niehaus to landlord Eric Corbishley, in which he blamed the ANC's "serious organisational challenges" for payment delays.
Meanwhile, the SA Institute of Race Relations warned that fraud and corruption within the African National Congress posed a threat to the rule of law in the country, Business Day reported.
"That the ANC was aware of the corrupt dealings of the man they appointed as their spokesperson to convey their election manifesto promise to act against corruption is beyond scandalous," the institute's deputy CEO Frans Cronje was quoted as saying.
"When the ruling party shows a disregard for the rule of law, that same disregard will begin to manifest itself in government."
- SAPA