Pic: Former Culture Sports and Recreation HOD Godfrey Ntombela
By Lwazi Raul-Shongwe
The HOD (Head of Department) for Culture, Sport, Recreation in Mpumalanga, Godfrey Ntombela, was dismissed from his position with immediate effect by Premier of the province, Mandla Ndlovu.
Ntombela’s termination of contract was made public during a media briefing called by the Premier to announce an urgent cabinet reshuffle on Tuesday 15 July 2025.
Ndlovu said the decision to terminate Ntombela’s contract with immediate effect was not easy, and is as a result of thorough engagement, assessments, and consideration of all the facts at hand.
“ Mr Ntombela’s employment contract was extended by my predecessor, Ms Refilwe Mtshweni-Tsipane from the 1st of March 2024 to the 28th of September 2024 in terms of section 12(2) of the Public Service Act, 1994, read with paragraph 15.1 of Chapter 8 of the Senior Management Service Handbook (“SMS handbook”).
“ On assumption of my duties as the Premier of the Mpumalanga Provincial Government, I also extended Mr Ntombela’s contract of employment for another period of five months, effectively from 28 September 2024 to 28 February 2025, of which Mr Ntombela rejected, citing that the previous Premier, Ms Mtshweni-Tsipane had extended his contract of employment from 1 March 2024 to 28 February 2027,” said Ndlovu.
According to Nldovu, this claim by Ntombela was vehemently refuted by former Premier Mtshweni-Tsipane.
“She (Mtshweni-Tsipane)states that she never extended Mr Ntombela’s employment of contract beyond September 2024. It has also come to my attention that a fraudulent activity has been committed, where former Premier’s electronic signature was used in the purported extension. There is an alleged payment of R80 000 that was exchanged for the misuse of the former Premier’s electronic signature. This matter is viewed in a very serious light,” said Ndlovu.
In the scathing announcement of Ntombela’s dismissal, Ndlovu said the role of an HOD is to provide leadership and management for a department, ensuring that it achieves set goals and align them with the overall objectives.
“ This role encompasses strategic planning, team management, resource allocation and fostering a productive and efficient working environment. They are expected to respect the core values of our institutions, which are honesty, integrity, loyalty, accountability and transparency,” he said.
Ndlovu has revealed that the Acting Provincial Police Commissioner, Major-General(Dr) Zeph Mkhwanazi has been consulted to look into the alleged fraudulent activity in which money has exchanged hands to facilitate the said misuse of the former Premier’s electronic signature.
