News24 | Department of Health DG suspended following directive from Ramaphosa

Department of Health Director-General Sandile Buthelezi has been suspended.

• National Department of Health director-general Dr Sandile Buthelezi, CFO Phaswa Mamogale, and a deputy director-general, Dr Percy Mahlati, have been suspended.
• Their suspension follows their arrest on fraud and theft charges to the tune of R1 million, relating to contracts awarded for an investigation and chairing of a disciplinary hearing against an employee.
• Minister of Health, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, suspended the officials following a directive from President Cyril Ramaphosa.

The national Department of Health’s Director-General, Dr Sandile Buthelezi, has been placed on precautionary suspension following his arrest on charges of fraud and theft.

Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi suspended Buthelezi after receiving a directive from President Cyril Ramaphosa.

According to a statement from the health ministry, Buthelezi’s suspension will continue until his criminal cases are completed or his contract ends.

READ | Health DG accused of stealing R1m from fund that fights AIDS, TB and malaria

Buthelezi’s two co-accused – Deputy Director-General for Hospital Services, Tertiary Health Services and Human Resource Development, Dr Percy Mahlati, and the department’s chief financial officer, Phaswa Mamogale – have also been suspended.

“Minister Motsoaledi would like to allow the law to take its course. All officials affected by the decision have been formally notified of their suspensions,” the statement read.

In the meantime, Motsoaledi has appointed Deputy Director-General for National Health Insurance, Nicolas Crisp, to act as the director-general for the next three months.

Earlier in March, Buthelezi, Mamogale and Mahlathi were arrested, and they appeared in the Pretoria Commercial Crimes Court on Monday, charged with fraud and theft.

They have been accused of stealing more than R1 million from the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

According to the charge sheet, the Global Fund and the South African government entered into an agreement under which the national health department was the principal recipient of the grant funding. The State alleges that the fund receives donations and other grant funding from local and international donor organisations to support training and relief during outbreaks.

However, the State contends that Buthelezi and his co-accused used the funds to arrange the alleged irregular appointment of service providers to investigate and chair a disciplinary hearing of an employee, advocate Maile Ngake, the lead implementor of the fund.

News24 previously reported that one of the service providers appointed to conduct the investigation for the disciplinary hearing, Nokuzola Mafunda, had registered her company, Ithani Amen, on 22 August 2023, just nine days before the department appointed the company.

A day after her appointment, the State alleges that Mafunda opened a bank account for her newly formed company.

Mafunda had also been arrested and charged with fraud, after allegedly lying about her registration on the Central Supplier Database and providing the wrong business address.

It is the State’s version that Mahlathi requested a deviation from the normal procurement processes for the appointment of Mafunda as the labour investigator. Buthelezi supposedly approved the request and signed the letter of appointment.

Around a month later, towards the end of September 2023, Mahlathi again requested a deviation from the normal procurement processes for the appointment of a chairperson for Ngake’s disciplinary enquiry.

After completing an investigation report, Mafunda is said to have invoiced the department for more than R500 000. It is alleged that Mahlathi authorised the invoice to be paid from the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

Before the funds were paid in February 2025, the State alleges that Mahlathi requested that the CFO, Mamogale, approve the payment, but that, at the same time, the finance department had raised concerns about irregular expenditure in the appointment of Mafunda, and stated that the invoice should be paid by supply chain management.

The State says the accused committed fraud because the reasons given to deviate from normal procurement processes in appointing Mafunda were unfounded – namely that she was the only qualified consultant available and that the grant funds could be used for the appointment.

The theft charges relate to the order directing that the money be used from the Global Fund, which the State asserts could not be legally made from the fund. Buthelezi has also been charged with contravening the Public Finance Management Act for allegedly unlawfully appointing service providers.

All four accused were granted bail and are expected back in court in June.