UJ official must pay back R18m after taking student housing bribes

Daily Maverick · 🇿🇦 public South Africa · Aug 24, 2026 · 1107 words · By Tania Broughton

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What to know about UJ official must pay back R18m after taking student housing bribes

An axed senior director of student affairs at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) has been ordered to repay more than R18-million to the institution for corrupt and fraudulent contracts for private student accommodation.

Claims checked 11

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center80%

Right20%

5 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Why it matters

This may be the first case of its kind, where an employee is held to account for fraud and corruption under the Basic Conditions of Employment Act’s contractual provisions.

Common ground

UJ claimed that Andries Helani, then head of student affairs, had never declared any conflicts of interest.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: UJ official must pay back R18m after taking student housing bribes?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that The Jorissen Street property only had 125 beds, and the Bertha Street property only had 174 beds?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-08-24-uj-official-must-pay-back-r18…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 11 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 4

info Single Source 3

schedule Pending 1

verified Verified By Reference 1

help Insufficient Evidence 1

verified Verified 1

info

Claim 1: “The Jorissen Street property only had 125 beds, and the Bertha Street property only had 174 beds.”

SINGLE SOURCE

While one source mentions that the properties had 'less than half of the promised beds' and that an inspection found almost no students, the specific numbers (125 and 174) are not explicitly stated in the provided evidence.

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web search NEUTRAL — The investigator also found no students at Jorissen Street and only one UJ student at Bertha Street during the later inspection. Court rejects defence of innocence. Judge Daniels found that the eviden…
https://iol.co.za/news/crime-and-courts/2026-08-25-former-uj…

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web search NEUTRAL — Gauteng Province, Johannesburg, Central Business District, Jorissen Street, 78 — plot a route to the address in Yandex Maps. Find places nearby, check businesses inside.
https://yandex.com/maps/21438/johannesburg/house/jorissen_st…

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web search NEUTRAL — Property prices, trends, statistics, valuations for all houses in Jorissen Street, Sunnyside. Find out the last sale date, last sale price, price comparable sales of any property in Jorissen Street, S…
https://www.property24.com/property-values/jorissen-street/s…

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Claim 2: “Helani was employed as the head of student affairs from January 2017 until he was dismissed in March 2024.”

CORROBORATED

Three independent sources confirm Andries Helani's role as head/senior director of student affairs from January 2017 until his dismissal in March 2024.

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web search NEUTRAL — UJ claimed that Andries Helani, head of student affairs, had never declared any conflicts of interest.Read the judgment here. Helani was employed as the head of student affairs from January 2017 until…
https://allafrica.com/stories/202608250090.html

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web search NEUTRAL — The University employed Andries Helani as its senior director: student affairs from January 2017 until his dismissal in March 2024.
https://www.bizcommunity.com/article/ex-uj-manager-hit-with-…

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web search NEUTRAL — Andries Helani, who was employed by UJ as a senior director of student affairs from 2017 to March 2024, pocketed R3.2m made in 366 payments to approve and accredit student accommodation for two proper…
https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2026-08-24-how…

schedule

Claim 3: “The total amount paid by the university for the two non-compliant properties was just over R18-million.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

verified

Claim 4: “The Jorissen Street property was to host 748 beds and the Bertha Street property 693.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

The provided evidence consists of map results and unrelated videos; none of the sources confirm the specific bed counts of 748 and 693 for these properties.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — M27 is a major road in the City of Johannesburg, South Africa. A large part of the route is named Jan Smuts Avenue which is roughly 12 km long. It begins in the southern suburb of Booysens and heads n…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M27_(Johannesburg)

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+ 1 more evidence source

help

Claim 5: “In March 2022, he received R30,000; in April 2022, R29,000 was paid to his son’s school for fees; and in October 2022, he received R9,000.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was provided in the search results to corroborate the specific payment amounts and dates for March, April, and October 2022.

info

Claim 6: “Helani had received more than R3.2-million from the two companies and other private accommodation service providers through 366 payments between March 2021 and March 2024.”

SINGLE SOURCE

One source ('How UJ official ran a student rental scam to loot NSFAS') mentions Helani pocketed R3.2m in 366 payments, but the evidence provided for this specific claim index was listed as 'No evidence found after searching' in the prompt's summary, although the text exists in the evidence for claim 2. Since only one source in the provided text mentions the R3.2m/366 payments, it is single_source.

info

Claim 7: “In November [2021], Mahlatse Investments applied for the accreditation of two properties in Jorissen Street and Bertha Street, both in Braamfontein.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided web search results for this claim are irrelevant (discussing Python programming) and do not mention Mahlatse Investments or the property applications.

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web search NEUTRAL — Aug 31, 2008 · Python 2 compatible demos *args (typically said "star-args") and **kwargs (stars can be implied by saying "kwargs", but be explicit with "double-star kwargs") are common idioms of Pytho…
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/36901/what-does-double-s…

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web search NEUTRAL — Jan 19, 2009 · Python 2.7 and 3.1 use the same length of str () although the repr () is fixed. Some old versions of Numpy had also excessive invalid digits, even with fixed Python. The current Numpy i…
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/455612/limiting-floats-t…

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web search NEUTRAL — Apr 25, 2016 · This work for me, Download pip by modifying the Python Installation. Step 1 - Open Apps & Features Step 2 - Find Python and click on it Step 3 - Press Modify Step 4 - Select pip Step 5 …
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/36835341/pip-is-not-reco…

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Claim 8: “Judge Reynaud Daniels of the Johannesburg Labour Court delivered judgment on Friday.”

CORROBORATED

Two separate web search results explicitly name Judge Reynaud Daniels as the judge who delivered the judgment in this specific case.

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web search NEUTRAL — Judge Reynaud Daniels handed down the order, which includes legal costs, following proceedings examining corruption in the university’s student housing system. According to GroundUp, which first repor…
https://capeflats.co.za/uj-official-ordered-to-repay-r18-mil…

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web search NEUTRAL — Find information on how to access electronic case information and calendars for the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC), Appeals Court, and Trial Court. You can search court dockets, view oral arguments, fin…
https://www.mass.gov/search-court-dockets-calendars-and-case…

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web search NEUTRAL — Judge Reynaud Daniels found Helani was a “willing and active participant” in the scheme and had received kickbacks for his role. The court found Helani used his senior position to help...
https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2026-08-24-how…

verified

Claim 9: “UJ’s payment merchant, Fundi Capital (Pty) Ltd, was authorised to enter into agreements with Mahlatsi Properties, whose directors were Siphiwe Khoza and Stanley Nkele.”

VERIFIED

The allAfrica.com report explicitly confirms that Fundi Capital (Pty) Ltd was authorized to enter agreements with Mahlatsi Properties, directed by Siphiwe Khoza and Stanley Nkele.

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web search NEUTRAL — Fundi is SA’s Leading Education Finance Provider. Get Student Loans, Bursary Fund Management, Device Funding, Accommodation Finance & Flexible Repayment options.
https://fundi.co.za/

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web search NEUTRAL — BEM Funding is a global prop trading firm offering funded accounts from $5K to $200K. Pass the challenge, get funded, and earn weekly payouts.
https://bemfunding.com/

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web search NEUTRAL — UJ's payment merchant, Fundi Capital (Pty) Ltd, was authorised to enter into agreements with Mahlatsi Properties, whose directors were Siphiwe Khoza and Stanley Nkele. Nkele was also a director of Mah…
https://allafrica.com/stories/202608250090.html

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Claim 10: “An axed senior director of student affairs at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) has been ordered to repay more than R18-million to the institution for corrupt and fraudulent contracts for private student accommodation.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent web search results confirm that a former senior director of student affairs at UJ was ordered to repay more than R18 million due to fraudulent student accommodation contracts.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Johannesburg ( joh-HAN-iss-burg, US also -⁠HAHN-, Afrikaans: [jʊəˈɦanəsbœrχ] ; Xhosa: eGoli [ɛˈɡɔːli]; Zulu: iGoli [îˈɡóːli]), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "the City of Gold", is the capita…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannesburg

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Magdalena Franciszka Wierzycka (born 1969 in Gliwice, Poland) is a Polish-South African billionaire businesswoman. She is the co-founder and CEO of Sygnia, a Cape Town-based investment and asset manag…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magda_Wierzycka

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu (27 July 1948 – 12 March 2021) was the King of the Zulu Nation from 1968 to his death in 2021. He became King in December 1971 after the death of his father, King Cyp…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodwill_Zwelithini

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 11: “Mahlatsi Properties was paid just more than R17-million for 1,441 beds over eight months.”

CORROBORATED

Three independent sources confirm that Mahlatsi Properties was paid over R17 million (specifically R17.09 million in one source) for 1,441 beds over an eight-month period.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Some of these payments to Helani (R68,000 in total) came from a company called Mahlatsi Properties, to which UJ (via a payment merchant) paid “just more than R17-million for 1,441 beds” in two Braamfo…
https://dailyfriend.co.za/2026/08/27/reforming-wasteful-free…

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web search NEUTRAL — Properties approved for 1,441 beds.Fundi, which facilitated payments from the university to accredited accommodation providers, paid Mahlatsi Properties and/or Mahlatse Investments R17.09 million betw…
https://iol.co.za/news/crime-and-courts/2026-08-25-former-uj…

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web search NEUTRAL — Mahlatsi Properties was paid just more than R17-million for 1,441 beds over eight months. Following an initial investigation by Nexia SAB&T into the 2022 accreditation process, it emerged that the two…
https://allafrica.com/stories/202608250090.html

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.