Mansions, moguls and mischief on Johannesburg’s millionaire mile

Share current article via EmailShare current article via FacebookShare current article via TwitterShare current article via LinkedInGill GiffordSenior journalist

Opens in new windowOpens in new windowOpens in new windowOpens in new windowEnter fullscreen mode displaying this image.ExpandHangwani Morgan Maumela’s multi-storey home in Sandhurst which is among properties that were forfeited to the NPA. Picture: SIU Story audio is generated using AI

At first glance, Killarney Road in Johannesburg’s northern suburbs appears to be just another exclusive, leafy street that is home to some of the city’s wealthiest people. The high walls, guardhouses and surveillance cameras tell a story.

But a closer peek reveals a community bristling with some of the country’s most powerful players.

At just 155m long, Killarney Road borders Hyde Park and Sandhurst and is home to President Cyril Ramaphosa. He rubs shoulders with an assortment of neighbours, including EFF leader Julius Malema; Bellarmine Mugabe, the son of Zimbabwe’s late president Robert Mugabe; and cigarette tycoon and self-confessed tax cheat Adriano Mazzotti.

But perhaps the most notorious person associated with the road is businessman Hangwani Maumela, whose alleged involvement in the R2bn Tembisa Hospital corruption scandal has thrust his property empire into the spotlight.

Ramaphosa’s relationship with Maumela was revealed last year after the Asset Forfeiture Unit seized vehicles and art at Maumela’s home. The president says he hardly knows him but admits he was married to Maumela’s aunt 47 years ago; however, he divorced her decades ago.

Ramaphosa says he bumped into Maumela twice outside his house while on walks. In the first incident, in 2024, Maumela emerged from his home and Ramaphosa asked him, “So you are the Maumela who is putting my name into disrepute?” After which Maumela smiled and Ramaphosa walked away.

Later that year their paths crossed again. Ramaphosa was walking with his daughter when Maumela asked him to greet his mother, Moneni Maumela, who was a former classmate of Ramaphosa’s at Papuri High School.

A screengrab of President Cyril Ramaphoa allegedly outside the home of Hangwani Maumela. The MHR Maumela Family Trust acquired substantial prime property along the road, including 41 Killarney Road, a sprawling 6,547m² property bought in 2022 for R16m. The erf has since been combined with an adjoining R70m Oxford Avenue property to create a vast compound.

Members of the Special Investigating Unit seized three Lamborghinis at the Killarney Road home of alleged Tembisa looting mastermind Hangwani Maumela under a preservation order obtained by the Asset Forfeiture Unit. Picture: Thapelo Morebudi Images and videos showcasing the lavish lifestyle and luxury properties amassed by Maumela and his family have fuelled public outrage, particularly against the backdrop of the alleged looting of funds intended for public healthcare.

Another name linked to Killarney Road is businessman Bejani Chauke, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s former principal political adviser, who reportedly owns a neighbouring or adjacent stand.

Killarney Road resident Bejani Chauke, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s former principal political adviser. File photo. This week, Chauke was served with a rule 10.6 notice by the Madlanga commission of inquiry, which is examining historical WhatsApp exchanges between him and the late taxi boss Jotham “King Mswazi” Msibi concerning illicit high-grade surveillance equipment.

In February, Bellarmine Mugabe and his bodyguard Tobias Tamirepi Matonhodze were arrested at a property linked to the Mugabe family in Killarney Road.

Bellarmine Mugabe and his bodyguard Tobias Tamirepi Matonhodze were arrested at a property linked to the Mugabe family in Killarney Road. Picture: Mukovhe Mulidzwi During an appearance in the Alexandra magistrate’s court, Mugabe pleaded guilty to firearm and immigration charges. He was fined, detained and deported to Zimbabwe in April.

Zimbabwe media reported in 2017 that his mother, Grace Mugabe, bought the property for R45m and was negotiating to buy another.

Cigarette tycoon Adriano Mazzotti and his wife, Analisa. EFF leader Julius Malema’s wife and children live at their Killarney Road property and pay a ‘market-related rent’. Picture: Ruvan Boshoff Then there is Mazzotti, director of cigarette manufacturer Carnilinx, whose property became the subject of controversy in 2018 when it emerged that Malema’s wife and children were living there, with the EFF leader joining them when he was in Johannesburg.

EFF leader Julius Malema at a recent election rally in Soweto. His wife and children live on a property in Killarney Road owned by controversial cigarette tycoon Adriano Mazzotti. Picture: Antonio Muchave Mazzotti and Malema defended the arrangement, saying there was nothing untoward about it and that the family paid market-related rent. But the arrangement attracted considerable scrutiny because of Mazzotti’s history of financially supporting the EFF.

Vehicles from the Candice Berman Fine Art Gallery enter the home of DNG Energy founder and CEO Aldworth Mbalati in 2025 to repossess artworks valued at R4m. Picture: Orrin Singh Another property dispute involved DNG Energy founder Aldworth Dzunisani Mbalati and a R35m mansion at 39 Killarney Road. After extensive renovations, he was ordered to vacate following a payment dispute with the developer. The legal battle ran between January 2021 and December 2022.

For all its colourful residents, however, Killarney Road is also a serious property address. Property analytics firm Lightstone consistently places it among Gauteng’s most expensive streets, with its combination of sprawling free-standing homes, tight security and exceptional privacy making it particularly attractive to wealthy buyers.

Identifying who owns what is not always straightforward. Many properties are held in trusts, while residents generally prefer to keep their affairs behind the imposing walls and guarded entrances.

A mansion in Killarney Road flying the South African flag. Picture: Mukovhe Mulidzwi Some homes are known by names such as The Janette, The Hyde Park and The Gables. The Chinese consulate, marked only by a modest sign, is also on the road, opposite a palatial property called Paradise, complete with a prominently displayed South African flag.

Nora Morekhure, sales manager for developers Limestone Properties, says the road’s residents include some powerful international figures.

“Two of the owners at number 42 are high-level politicians from African countries,” she said.

Limestone bought the property and developed 10 high-end units, all of which sold within eight months for between R6.5m and R7m each. Transfers were completed in July 2024.

“We had one investor-buyer who rents out the unit. But most of the people who live in the road like their huge free-standing mansions with lots of space and privacy,” she told the Sunday Times.

A four-bedroom, en-suite cluster with staff accommodation and “a very small garden” fetches about R65,000 a month in rent, excluding utilities.

Jodi Frankel of Auction Inc, who is active in the area, confirmed that the street attracts some big names, although ownership structures can make it difficult to establish exactly who lives where.

“It’s not easy to see who owns what because a good number of the properties in this league are held in trusts,” she said.

Frankel auctioned an unfinished mansion at 10 Killarney Road for R38.5m in May. The property was intended to become a family home once the transfer was completed.

“It’s another world. I recently got the fright of my life when I went to one of the properties to ask if it was for sale and a security guard came out with a rifle,” she said.

At 44 Killarney Road, The Hyde Park development promises an ‘exquisitely crafted contemporary estate of only four homes on spacious stands of ±700–866m², priced from R12,957,875 VAT inclusive’. Lightstone data, which categorises the road under Sandhurst rather than Hyde Park, records 72 property transfers in the broader area between November 2025 and October 2026, with a combined value of R562.7m. Nine transfers were recorded in the most recent three-month period, at an average sale price of R7.82m.

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