MBABANE – Chief Financial Officer of Eswatini Medical Aid Fund (EswatiniMed), Nokuthula Dlamini, has resigned from her position, deepening the ongoing leadership crisis at the country’s largest medical aid provider.
Her resignation, effective 30 June, comes three months after she was appointed acting Principal Officer by the interim board led by Bheki Maziya, following the suspension of long-serving Principal Officer Peter Simelane in March. Dlamini has also stepped down from her substantive role as CFO.
She submitted her resignation letter on Thursday last week, reportedly addressed to Simelane, whose position remains a subject of multiple legal disputes before the Industrial, High, and Supreme Courts.
Insiders at EswatiniMed said Dlamini described her decision to leave as difficult, having joined the fund in 2017 as an accountant. She was promoted to CFO in February 2023 and had previously served as Finance Manager at Ezulwini Private Hospital, after spending over five years at KPMG.
Known internally for tightening financial controls and boosting compliance systems, Dlamini is said to have expressed appreciation for the team she worked with and the progress made during her time at the institution.
Although the official response from EswatiniMed has been muted, Simelane confirmed receiving the resignation but declined to offer details, citing confidentiality.
The resignation comes amid legal wrangling involving Dlamini herself, who supported an urgent application filed by the interim board against Simelane in the Industrial Court. The board had cited governance failures and stakeholder concerns as reasons for suspending him earlier this year.
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