Carl Niehaus

Age

Carl Niehaus was born on 25 December 1959.^[1]

Love Life

Carl Niehaus and his wife Johanna Lourens (Jansie) were married in prison.^[1] Niehaus was released from prison in 1991 and divorced Jansie shortly thereafter. He has had two more divorces.^[2]

Education

Niehaus never completed his higher education at Rand Afrikaans University (RAU).^[1]

Role In Fight Against Apartheid

A student of theology, Niehaus was months away from his final exams in 1980 when he was expelled from RAU for putting up campus posters that supported Nelson Mandela's release from prison.

In the same year, Carl Niehaus resigned from the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) as he was opposed to their compliance with the apartheid system. He joined and became a deacon in the African Dutch Reformed Church in Alexandra and in July 1980 Niehaus joined the African National Congress.

He worked in the ANC underground inside South Africa until he and his fiancé (and later wife) Johanna (Jansie) Lourens were arrested in August 1983.

Carl and Jansie were found guilty of High Treason and he received a 15 year sentence while Jansie was sentenced to four years in prison.

Jansie served her full sentence and Niehaus served seven and a half years of his sentence. Carl Niehaus was released from prison in March 1991 following ANC negotiations with the previous Nationalist Party Government for the release of political prisoners.^[1]

ANC Roles

Immediately after his release Carl Niehaus became the media liaison spokesperson for the ANC, and from 1992 until the General Election on 27 April 1994 he was head of the ANC's media liaison unit.

After having served for two consecutive terms on the Regional Executive Council (REC) of the ANC in Gauteng (the old PWV Region), Niehaus was elected at the ANC's National Conference in Bloemfontein (December 1994) to the National Executive Committee of the ANC. He also chaired the NEC's Commission on Religious Affairs.

In 1996, Niehaus was a Member of Parliament in the National Assembly. He chaired the Select Committee on Correctional Services, and also served on the Select Committee for Justice and Communication. The Transformation Forum on Correctional Service was also chaired by him.^[1]

Suspension

In a letter dated 7 July 2021, ANC's deputy secretary-general, Jessie Duarte, informed Carl Niehaus that the NEC had also temporarily suspended his membership of the party.

The letter stated that Niehaus's conduct contravened several of the party's rules.

NEC also stated that it had decided to institute disciplinary action against Niehaus within 30 days. The disciplinary hearing was adjudicated by the party's National Disciplinary Committee. Duarte's letter said Niehaus would be served with a charge sheet in due course which would outline the charges against him and his "rights as a member".^[3]

Responding to the suspension, Niehaus said he was planning to appeal the decision and added that he remained the UMkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans Association (MKMVA) national spokesperson.

The MKMVA was at the forefront of the campaign to prevent the arrest of Zuma.^[4]

Arrest

On 8 July 2021, Carl Niehaus was arrested live on air in the middle of an interview. Niehaus was arrested for organizing a #FreeJacobZuma protest campaign outside Estcourt Correctional Centre in KZN.

Controversies

Fraudulent Qualifications

Carl Niehaus's alleged degree in Industrial Sociology from the University of the Witwatersrand, and a PhD in Theology at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands raised much controversy.

In 2009, it was revealed that Niehaus did not have a degree from the University of Utrecht and that he had in fact falsified additional information regarding his qualifications and work for the ANC. Niehaus claimed he obtained a doctoral degree in theology at Utrecht during his tenure as South Africa's ambassador in The Hague from 1997-2000.

Following an enquiry, a university official told the Beeld newspaper, "I can inform you that Mr Carl Niehaus had not obtained a doctorate in Theology in the period you mentioned."^[1][5]

Beeld also reported that Niehaus had never actually attained a degree from Wits. It quoted a university spokesperson, Shirona Patel, as saying: "We can confirm that he was registered as a student, but never graduated."^[6]

Mauritius Trip

Carl Niehaus apparently convinced the owner of a travel agency to temporarily cover the expenses of a family holiday to Mauritius and when he was expected to repay the amount of money, he refused to do so. He was forced to resign from the ANC in February 2009.^[1]

Niehaus approached Cheryl Clur, an owner of a travel agency in East London and asked her to organise a last-minute trip to Mauritius. She said Niehaus told her he had been ill with leukaemia, had chemotherapy and wanted a holiday for his wife and two children. Clur said Niehaus played on her emotions with his illness.

She paid for the holiday upfront as Niehaus kept on promising he would pay the next day. Then he left for the holiday. When Niehaus returned from the holiday Clur was unable to get him to settle the debt. Eventually, she tracked him down to the Rhema Church in Randburg, and he ended up paying back a token amount of R20,000.^[5]

Faking Father's Death

In May 2012, the Mail&Guardian reported on how Carl Niehaus had run up an additional string of debts and had sought to borrow money from his friend, Andries Nel purportedly to cover funeral expenses for his father. Nel, who gifted money to Carl to help cover expenses, was reported to have subsequently attempted to attend the funeral without success, as Carl's father had not in fact died.^[2]

Faking Mother's Death

Niehaus allegedly told a landlord to whom he owed significant sums of money that his mother had passed away and he stands to receive a generous inheritance. The paper further reported that Niehaus had forged correspondence between himself and a fictitious Nedbank employee to back up his claim. However, Carl Niehaus' mother was still alive and residing in an old-age home, a fact confirmed telephonically by his sister.^[2]

Books

• Om te Veg vir Hoop: The autobiography was translated into English and Dutch.^[1]

References