By Shaun Smillie and Carien du Plessis
Carl Niehaus has quit the ANC, just ahead of it throwing him out. On Monday he tendered his resignation as an employee, hours after the national working committee placed its former spokesperson on special leave and was deciding whether to charge him in terms of its own disciplinary code.
He would have been dismissed if he had been convicted. As it was, he resigned - and this time the party accepted it.
On Friday, ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe refused to accept Niehaus's resignation, saying the party would stand by the former activist and "help him rebuild his life".
Since then there has been a deluge of revelations about Niehaus's debt and litany of broken promises to people who lost hundreds of thousands of rands in the process.
On Sunday, Niehaus went so far as to directly blame the ANC - which he rejoined as a senior employee in October - for his financial woes with his landlord.
The Star can reveal that Standard Bank was awarded a judgment for R2-million against Niehaus last February for defaulting on his bond repayments for a Morningside, Sandton, home listed as his residence.
In September 2007, Niehaus was served with a default court judgment for R230 000 brought by Legacy All Suites Management Services, which manages the Michelangelo Towers in Sandton. The office space was let by Opus Africa Brokers, of which Niehaus was listed as a director.
In July 2007, the Pretoria High Court ordered Niehaus to pay the law firm Magula Maakana R350 000.
These revelations form part of the backdrop as Niehaus's landlord, businessman Eric Corbishley, served an eviction notice at the Johannesburg Supreme Court on Mobday for payment of more than R300 000, accrued over seven months.
Niehaus also faces having his water and lights cut off within 48 hours for non-payment.
On Monday, East London travel agent Cheryl Clur approached The Star and told how Niehaus conned her out of R90 000 for an exotic holiday he took to Mauritius in 2003.
Niehaus's public shaming was sparked by a damning expose in the Mail & Guardian on Friday. It detailed how he forged the signatures of four Gauteng MECs, including Paul Mashatile, now Gauteng's premier, while running the Gauteng Economic Development Agency (Geda).
The report said he left Rhema Church as its chief executive after borrowing R700 000 to buy a fleet of luxury cars, and fraudulently got accountants Deloitte & Touche to pay for an Indian Ocean holiday.
The Saturday Star then revealed that Niehaus pretended that his sister had died to get legal firm AL Mostert to pay for a business class ticket to London for his then wife.
The Sunday Times revealed that Niehaus did not pay Corbishley his R45 000 monthly rent for the Midrand mansion.
On Tuesday, ANC spokesperson Lindiwe Zulu said: "It was the further revelations that made the ANC realise we have more than what we (thought we) had on our hands on hiring comrade Carl.
"Now we have to deal with the extra information that we have, and the best way to deal with it is to make sure we remove comrade Carl and deal with it internally."
The party wanted to act in a humanitarian way, but "it was also important for (Niehaus) to accept the fact that he messed up", she said.
Niehaus's new lawyer, Ian Small Smith, said he was "seeking pyschological counselling and is obtaining assistance in settling his debts".
On Tuesday, Geda said Niehaus's fraudulent activity was detected after a tipoff. Its then chairperson, Keith Khoza, confronted Niehaus, who resigned a day later.
Meanwhile Democratic Alliance MPL Jack Bloom has followed the Independent Democrats by laying charges against Niehaus, Mashatile and businessman Pierre Swart, who is said to have been involved in Niehaus's alleged attempted fraud.