The head of the national Health Department – whose conduct has come under scrutiny more than once in recent years – and two other senior health officials appeared in court this week for allegedly siphoning money out of Global Fund coffers to push out a departmental whistle-blower.
Director-General of the National Department of Health, Sandile Buthelezi, CFO Phineas Phaswa Mamogale, and deputy DG Percy Mahlathi were arrested on Monday – and later released on R10 000 bail each, reports News24.
They appeared in the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crime Court accused of breaking procurement laws and regulations to loot around R1m from the Global Fund – money meant to fight HIV, Aids, TB and malaria.
They were accused of misusing the money to appoint service providers in connection with the disciplinary process against the chief director of labour relations, Advocate Maile Ngake. This included appointing a chairperson for the disciplinary hearing and an investigator to probe allegations against him.
Ngake was suspended after authoring a report detailing R1.2bn in fraud at the North West Department of Health.
NPA regional spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana told Daily Maverick that between 30 August 2023 and 28 September 2023, the three had irregularly appointed Ithani Amen (Pty) Ltd and N Mbileni J Tohlang-Nkopane in a labour matter: Ithani Amen was hired as an independent investigator and N Mbileni J Tohlang-Nkopane as chairperson for the disciplinary hearing against Ngake.
According to the charge sheet, Buthelezi directed Mahlathi to appoint an external investigator to probe unrelated allegations against Ngake, with the funds for this exercise to be sourced from the Global Fund.
Buthelezi had placed Ngake on precautionary suspension on 29 August 2023.
Mahlathi then requested a deviation from normal procurement processes to appoint Nokuzola Mavis Mafunda, claiming the case was urgent and highly sensitive.
Mafunda allegedly signed a declaration of interest stating she had no relationship with anyone working for the state. In fact, she had a relationship with Mahlathi himself, the Hawks found.
Eight days old
Documents obtained by News24 show that on 31 August 2023, Buthelezi appointed Mafunda to conduct the investigation and hand over a report to Mahlathi.
Just eight days earlier, on 22 August 2023, Mafunda had registered the company Ithani Amen.
According to the letter, Buthelezi said Mafunda would investigate:
• Ngake’s handling of cases;
• excessive travel claims by his subordinates;
• an old case concerning allegations that Ngake gave legal advice to dental technician students in their dispute against the Dental Technicians Council; and
• workflow practices within Ngake’s unit.
Buthelezi told Mafunda that Mahlathi would provide further details and must be given office space at the department.
While Mafunda was appointed in her personal capacity, she later invoiced the department through her company, which the Auditor-General flagged for possible tax evasion.
Out of depth
Mafunda submitted a slim 11-page report to Mahlathi on 16 October 2023, in which she seemingly drew conclusions based on supposition, rather than fact.
She noted: “Working according to existing prescripts will show that the department means business and own accountability. It is a given that in this department nothing is minor, for the department deals with matters of life and death; litigation is rife.”
Her report concluded that Ngake’s work and management of case files were not up to standard. She said Ngake “failed in his fiduciary duty towards the employer” and recommended another “thorough investigation”, and said that he had tarnished the department’s image. She suggested the department review the employee relations section.
News24 asked Mafunda whether she believed she had the required skills to investigate the matter and whether her report was up to standard. She did not respond.
According to the state, the accused, however, maintained that Mafunda was the only qualified consultant with the experience to be appointed.
On 9 February 2024, days before Mafunda was to be paid, Mahlathi wrote an internal memo to CFO Mamogale, emphasising that Ngake’s matter was “highly sensitive” and therefore necessitated “the department (to) deviate from the normal process of appointing both the investigating officer and chairperson of the disciplinary hearing”.
“This was discussed with and approved by the DG (Buthelezi),” Mahlathi said, asking that Mamogale approve payments to Mafunda and the chairperson of Ngake’s disciplinary hearing, Joyce Nkopane.
Ithani Amen was only registered on the Central Supplier Database – a prerequisite for companies wanting to do business with the government – on the same day the invoices were sent, 22 August 2023. Three days later, R532 869 was paid to Ithani Amen from the Global Fund account.
A purchase order dated 12 February 2024 shows the NDOH paid R237 900 to Ithani Amen, and a sundry payment for R532 896 was approved on the same day.
On Monday, News24 reported that, according to the state, although Mahlathi had pushed for Mafunda to be paid, the finance department had simultaneously warned it would be deemed irregular expenditure.
Also on Monday, Ministry of Health spokesperson Sello Lediga said Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi “is still in the dark about the circumstances”, but that he would issue a statement once he had been fully briefed.
Repeated scandals
This is not the first time Buthelezi’s scruples have faced scrutiny. In 2021, he was officially suspended pending a disciplinary inquiry into his role in an irregular payment of R150m to Digital Vibes – however, he was cleared of wrongdoing, in November 2021, and his suspension was lifted.
In 2025, amaBhungane reported that the NDoH had launched a sweeping “due diligence investigation” into a series of hospital refurbishment projects costing millions of rands.
The programme, managed by the Independent Development Trust (IDT) and projected to cost more than R1.6bn, was intended to fast-track long-overdue upgrades at key public hospitals, but was mired in allegations of procurement irregularities. Buthelezi was reportedly at the centre of the programme.
On Monday, government spokesperson William Baloyi told Daily Maverick that as the matter was under active investigation by the Hawks, “no further details can be disclosed at this stage”.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Digital Vibes: Health DG Sandile Buthelezi also suspended – more to come?
Contractor linked to Health DG bribery claims wins dodgy hospital tender