The political futures of KwaZulu-Natal health MEC Nomagugu Simelane and education MEC Sipho Hlomuka may be decided as early as Monday after escalating calls for their removal amid serious fraud and corruption allegations.
Both face a torrent of pressure from opposition parties, civil society groups and whistleblower associations over alleged tender manipulation and abuse of public funds.
Simelane is accused of benefiting from R1.42m in duplicate payments made to her family’s business by the department of agriculture in 2016. At the time, she was serving as the chair of the KwaZulu-Natal legislature’s agriculture & rural development portfolio committee.
She is also alleged to have interfered with media freedom by pressing for the dismissal of a radio presenter critical of undocumented migrants accessing state health care.
Hlomuka is implicated in steering tenders from the R2.9bn national school nutrition programme (NSNP) towards companies linked to his family and his ANC comrades. He is also implicated in the improper appointment of departmental CFO Yali Joyi, who had resigned from her previous job at the KwaZulu-Natal department of co-operative governance & traditional affairs in January 2025 while under suspension for alleged procurement misconduct.
The premier remains committed to upholding clean governance and ensuring that any action taken does not compromise the stability and integrity of the GPU.
— Bongani Gina, spokesperson for premier Thami Ntuli
Both MECs deny wrongdoing. Simelane claims she severed ties with the family business years ago before occupying her influential positions and had no role in departmental payments, calling the accusations “false and malicious”. Hlomuka insists that MECs do not sit on tender panels and says the NSNP process is still under appeal. He refuses to step down unless formally dismissed by premier Thami Ntuli.
Ntuli said he has instructed both MECs to submit written responses by Monday. His spokesperson, Bongani Gina, said: “The premier will only make a determination once he has received and thoroughly considered the written reports. Any further action will be guided by the information presented and assessed accordingly.”
However, Ntuli would have to consult partners in the government of provincial unity (GPU) before deciding the fate of the two ANC leaders. The KwaZulu-Natal GPU includes the IFP, ANC, DA and National Freedom Party (NFP). Any dismissal of senior politicians deployed to government requires consultation and consensus among these partners.
“The premier remains committed to upholding clean governance and ensuring that any action taken does not compromise the stability and integrity of the GPU,” Gina said.
Simelane and Hlomuka were elected deputy chair and deputy secretary respectively at the ANC’s 2022 provincial conference. That leadership was disbanded after the party’s disastrous 2024 election showing, with support plunging from 54% to just 17% — costing the ANC control of the province. Provincial task teams have since replaced all regional structures.
Political analyst and University of KwaZulu-Natal senior lecturer Zakhele Ndlovu warned that Ntuli needed to tread carefully. The GPU holds just 41 of 80 seats in the legislature — IFP, ANC, DA and NFP combined — while the MK Party holds 37 and the EFF two. “The MK Party is waiting in the wings, ready to take over should the GPU falter. Ntuli can’t afford to rock the boat. If credible evidence emerges, the ANC could be asked to redeploy the two MECs while thorough investigations proceed,” Ndlovu said.
The ANC has responded to the allegations against Hlomuka and Simelane with a mix of concern and caution. It said that while it takes the allegations extremely seriously, it is also worried they could be used by its political opponents as a “concerted campaign to impugn the integrity” of deployees serving in the KwaZulu-Natal government.
“The premier is looking into these matters on the government side, but we have also seen statements by these two MECs and we hope that they will take the ANC into their own confidence in explaining themselves in light of these allegations, the party’s provincial task team co-ordinator, Mike Mabuyakhulu, said. “The ANC will then look at all of these things before coming to a determination.”
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