Cancer, fake funerals, forgeries and other big fibs

In 2003, Niehaus told an East London travel agent that he had had leukaemia and needed a R100 000 holiday in Mauritius with his wife and two children. He only paid R20 000 of the bill. “He played on my emotions,” said the agent.

In the same year, he left a senior job at Deloitte and Touche. He said his financial woes had become “embarrassing”.

In 2004, Rhema Bible Church asked Niehaus to resign as CEO and spokesman, saying he owed it more than R700 000. The church said the money was repaid shortly afterwards.

The same year, he had to repay a loan of R24 000 to the Rev Frank Chikane, who was then director-general in the Presidency, after leaving his job there under a cloud.

In 2005, Niehaus forged the signatures of several top ANC officials, including then Gauteng MECs Paul Mashatile, Ignatius Jacobs, Khabisi Mosunkutu and Angie Motshekga, while he was CEO of the Gauteng Economic Development Agency.

In a prenuptial agreement with his third wife late in 2008, Niehaus listed his personal wealth as R12.5-million. The couple separated in 2012.

In 2009, the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands said Niehaus had lied on his CV about having a doctorate in theology from the institution.

The same year, Niehaus admitted to having borrowed money from senior ANC figures, most of whom he had not repaid. He also said he had asked to be put in touch with Brett Kebble because he was “desperate for financial help”.

The Sunday Times reported in 2009 that Niehaus was facing eviction from his

R45 000-a-month Midrand home because he owed his landlord over

R300 000. The paper published SMSes from Niehaus in which he blamed the ANC’s “serious organisation challenges” for payment delays.

In 2011, Niehaus lied to then deputy justice minister Andries Nel that his father had died. He borrowed money from Nel to “transport the body” from Somerset West to Zeerust in North West.