Latest news with #Simelane-Mngadi
IOL News
24-07-2025
- Business
- IOL News
Nomagugu Simelane-Mngadi, KwaZulu-Natal Health MEC, vows to take legal action against corruption claims
KwaZulu-Natal Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane-Mngadi denies corruption allegations against her. Image: Supplied The embattled KwaZulu-Natal Health MEC, Nomagugu Simelane-Mngadi, has threatened to take legal action against people who have implicated her in the Ithala corruption loan scandal. The allegations that emerged a few days ago are that she used her position of power as the chairperson of the Agriculture and Rural Development portfolio committee some years ago to get funding for a family company in Ithala and in government. The allegations, first brought by a social media influencer Baas Kruger (it is unclear whether this is a real name), state that Kwazigugu Investment received a loan from Ithala Bank to buy a farm in Danahuser in the north-west of the province, as well as R1.4 billion from the Agriculture and Rural Development department. In a statement on Thursday, Simelane-Mngadi denied allegations calling them false and malicious, saying she was exploring the legal route. 'I'm exploring legal action to protect my name and my integrity and take to task those who deliberately and nefariously wish to impugn my good name,' said Simelane-Mngadi. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading She confirmed that the company in question was established in 1996 by her parents, however, she resigned from it in 2004 and has no business interests in it. She added that she has never benefitted from any of its dealings. She further stated that the company did receive a loan from Ithala Bank in 2008, however, at that time she was a junior official in government, with no authority or influence over Ithala or any funding decisions. The MEC also said she served as chairperson of the portfolio committee on Agriculture and Rural Development from 2016 to 2019 whereas the funding in question relates to a period specifically between 2014 and 2016 when she was not the chairperson of the committee as she was appointed in June 2016. 'In our system of government, the separation of powers is clear, MPLs, including committee chairpersons, have no role in Supply Chain Management or operational decisions of departments. Therefore, I could not have influenced any procurement processes. "These facts are easily verifiable, and their deliberate distortion shows that this is not an attempt to inform the public, but rather a well-calculated political smear campaign,' concludes Simelane-Mngadi. On an unrelated matter that is also burning her fingers, she has been accused of engineering the termination or non-renewal of the contract of the popular Vuma FM presenter Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma. It is believed that the MEC's issue with the presenter was her well-attended marches against illegal foreigners in the province which has resulted in locals barring them from accessing healthcare services in public hospitals. The MEC has also denied influencing the presenter's dismissal. The allegations against her and her ANC counterpart Education MEC Sipho Hlomuka are also on premier Thamsanqa Ntuli's radar who had demanded a written response from them about the allegations against them. Hlomuka is accused of involvement in a lucrative schools nutrition tender scheme. He has reportedly denied his involvement and called for evidence. Simelane-Mngadi said she is preparing a detailed report to Ntuli and the ANC about the allegations.
eNCA
08-05-2025
- Health
- eNCA
KZN health cuts off some projects to pay R1.7bn for service providers
PIETERMARITZBURG - The KwaZulu-Natal Health Department owes service providers a staggering R1,7 billion. Health MEC, Nomagugu Simelane-Mngadi, says the department is in dire financial straits. And it may be forced to cut some key projects to pay service providers. The department tried to pay some, spreading out the payments for big service providers with invoices above R500 000 over 60 days - to little avail. The department's budget has been slashed by R9 billion over the past five years, placing it in a precarious financial situation. Simelane-Mngadi says they must stop some services to have money to pay service providers and avoid a fiscal crisis. But this would likely compromise the delivery of health services. The department sats service providers who were not paid in March are scheduled to be paid on sometime this month.
IOL News
07-05-2025
- Health
- IOL News
Budget cuts force KwaZulu-Natal Health to cut projects amid R1. 7 Billion debt
KwaZulu-Natal Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane has confirmed that her department owes services providers R1.7 billion. Image: Supplied The KwaZulu-Natal Health department will cancel a number of projects to pay R1.7 billion it owes service providers. This was announced by MEC Nomagugu Simelane-Mngadi in a joint media briefing with Premier Thami Ntuli and the executive council on Wednesday. The MEC confirmed that her department was indeed owing service providers to the tune of the said amount, however, she said her department had started paying service providers especially those who have invoices below R500 000. She said to avoid the debt accumulating further, her department has decided to cut a certain number of projects which she said the department was busy trying to identify. The MEC further announced that she had started negotiating with service providers whom the department pays over R500 000 a month to arrange to spread their invoices for two months because the department could not meet the 30-day payment policy. 'We wish to confirm the figure of R1.7 billion that was reported that we owe service providers is correct, however, we must say we are dealing with the issue and as part of settling the debt and avoid the same situation to escalate further in this financial year, we are going to cut some projects and divert the saved funds to the payment of service providers until such time we have enough budget allocation to settle all the money owed to service providers,' said Simelane-Mngadi. Explaining why the department fell behind in paying service providers, Simelane-Mngadi said the department did report to the premier and Treasury in November last year that because of budget cuts in the last financial year, the department would experience problems in meeting payment obligations. There have been complaints that patients were starving in the hospitals because there was no money to purchase food.
