President Cyril Ramaphosa has distanced himself from Hangwani Maumela, the alleged mastermind in the looting of millions of rands from the Tembisa Hospital.

Presidential Spokesperson Vincent Magwenya told the media, on Monday, that Ramaphosa was unaware that a house that was under construction when he took a video with former special advisor Jomo Sibiya, DJ T-Bo Touch and Bishop Noel Jones while on a walk close to his house in September 2023 belonged to Maumela.

Magwenya says that the Presidency rejects a desperate attempt by some media to link him to Maumela, whose luxury assets were seized from his Sandton house last week by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU).

“And so, indeed, you see the President in front of Maumela’s house, but they were not visiting the house or coming out of that house. It just so happened that T-BO Touch stopped his car to greet the President as he was walking past what we now know as Maumela’s house. The President did not even know whose house it was at the time. The other dynamic about this street in particular is it’s a street that the President uses regularly when he takes walks or drives past or drives through the street. And naturally, he’ll drive past this house because the street is not too far from his home in Hyde Park.”

Magwenya says Ramaphosa has called for the acceleration of investigations into the extent of corruption at Tembisa Hospital.

“It’s worth reminding everybody that it was President Ramaphosa who signed the proclamation that has lifted the lid on the extent of the corruption and criminality in and around the Tembisa Hospital. In this regard, the President calls on all law enforcement agencies to accelerate their criminal investigations into the Tembisa Hospital matter in order to expedite the arrest of all those involved without fear or favour and regardless of who they are or purported to be related to. As all of you know, SIU proclamations can only be signed by the President.”