Former UJ Senior Director Ordered to Repay R18.18 Million Over Fraudulent Student Housing Scheme
Written on
The Labour Court ordered Andries Helani, the University of Johannesburg's former Senior Director of Student Affairs, to repay over R18.18 million for helping non-compliant private student accommodation providers secure accreditation.
The University of Johannesburg's former Senior Director of Student Affairs, Andries Helani, has been ordered to pay the university over R18.18 million after the Labour Court found that he breached his employment contract by helping non-compliant private student accommodation providers secure accreditation.
Labour Court Judge Reynaud Neil Daniels found that Helani accepted bribes and made fraudulent misrepresentations to assist Mahlatse Investments in obtaining accreditation for two properties in Braamfontein, one in Jorissen Street and another in Bertha Street. The properties were approved for a combined 1,441 beds, with the Jorissen Street property accredited for 748 beds and the Bertha Street property for 693 beds.
A subsequent investigation found that the Jorissen Street property had only 125 beds and the Bertha Street property only 174 beds, a combined capacity of 299 beds, alongside incomplete applications and missing compulsory documents. Fundi, which facilitated payments from the university to accredited accommodation providers, paid the Mahlatse entities R17.09 million between March and October 2022; including Fundi's six percent fee of R1.09 million, the total paid in relation to the two properties came to R18.18 million.
The judgment records that Helani received hundreds of payments from Mahlatse Investments and other private student accommodation providers, amounting to more than R3 million between March 2021 and March 2024, including R457,000 received from Siphiwe Khoza and Mahlatse-related entities between March and November 2022. The court was told there was a significant correlation between payments made by Fundi to the accommodation providers and payments received by Helani.
Judge Daniels rejected Helani's defence that he played only an administrative role, finding that he was a senior manager, a member of the Bid Evaluation Committee and the project leader responsible for the accreditation process. The court ordered Helani to pay the full amount together with the university's legal costs, including the costs of his unsuccessful applications to amend his pleadings and postpone the trial.