Tributes poured in from community leaders, African National Congress (ANC) officials, members of opposition parties, and community residents, remembering him as a dedicated community builder and unifying force.Nsimbini, a highly respected figure in Mpumalanga, served in the City of Mbombela Local Municipality for over 18 years.

He was a committed ANC member, known for maintaining discipline and coordinating the party’s Caucus within the City of Mbombela’s Council.

Speaking at the memorial service, ANC Ehlanzeni Region Chairperson, Jackie Macie paid tribute to the departed leader saying:

“We are here not to mourn, but celebrate his life. Indeed, he was a soldier until the end. He is one of the comrades whom we feel it is not going to be easy to replace him. He was a man of his word, a man of action, and a significant contributor to our community’s development.

READ | #RIPDavidMabuza: Tributes pour in for DD Mabuza

“We pray that the ANC will find strength to continue his work and that his family will find comfort in their loss.”
Nsimbini’s passing has left a void in the community, with many remembering his tireless efforts to serve and uplift those around him.

City of Mbombela’s Executive Mayor, Sibongile Makhushe-Mazibuko honoured his memory by saying Ntsimbini’s death is a great loss. “We have lost a community builder who went beyond the call of duty. He was a unifier, even in Council.”

Meanwhile, the Provincial Executive Committee (PEC) in the province visited Nsimbini’s home to offer condolences to his family prior to the memorial service. ANC Mpumalanga Deputy Secretary, Nompumelelo Hlophe emphasised that his passing would have a notable impact on the party’s operations.

Family spokesperson, David Ndlovu expressed the family’s grief stating that his passing has left a huge gap in the family.

“We had high hopes for him as he was dedicated to serving the community and driving change. We’re struggling to come to terms with his loss, and we pray for strength to accept this new reality.”

ALSO READ | Tributes pour in for Masibuyele Kujehova member

Nsimbini will be laid to rest on Sunday, October 19, 2025, with a funeral service starting at 07h00 at the Clau Clau Sports field.

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MEC Thulasizwe Thomo announced the project during a visit to Mgwenyane Primary School on September 5, where he also introduced the appointed contractor responsible for its implementation.

Speaking during the briefing, MEC Thomo highlighted the project’s significance, noting that the budget should also support communities and disadvantaged learners with essential school supplies. “We’re here to hand over a contractor for the school’s reconstruction, which is part of our program,” he said. “We’re looking at about 15 severely damaged schools in the province. This marks a crucial milestone in our ongoing efforts to improve education infrastructure across the province.”

The briefing was also attended by the Executive Mayor of the City of Mbombela, Sibongile Makushe-Mazibuko, who welcomed the project and lauded it as a long-awaited development aimed at improving the school’s infrastructure facility within the Ward.

“We’ve had numerous complaints from the school over the years about infrastructure issues, we’re grateful the department is taking action with this project to make the needed improvements,” she added.

READ | Mpumalanga Premier pledges to tackle service delivery issues

The scope of the project at Mgwenyane Primary School includes demolishing old toilets and classrooms, renovating existing classrooms and the computer lab, and building new structures such as an administration block, extra classrooms, a library, kitchen, and guardhouse. Additionally, the project includes landscaping and external works to enhance the school’s overall look and functionality.

This significant investment is expected to positively impact the province’s education system, benefiting learners and communities.

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“We’re pushing service delivery daily,” she emphasised, highlighting the municipality’s efforts to improve residents’ lives. “At the core of everything, we’re giving the necessary services to the people of Mbombela.”

She outlined key projects, including extending water provision to more residents and constructing a regional dam. She also highlighted sanitation initiatives, with approximately 15 000 households set to be connected to the sewer network.
Current projects include the Rocky’s Drift Wastewater Treatment Works and the Barberton Wastewater Treatment Works.

READ | City of Mbombela kicks into high gear with service delivery drive

“We remain steadfast in our commitment to managing waste responsibly and in full compliance with environmental regulations,” Makushe-Mazibuko said. The municipality is also maintaining 78 recreational parks, covering over 103 hectares, to enhance residents’ quality of life.

Makushe-Mazibuko reported notable progress in addressing electricity backlog, with 96% of households having access to electricity, according to Stats SA’s 2022 data. Since 2021, 5 296 households have been provided with electricity.
Other key outcomes outlined at the SOCA included road infrastructure development, nature reserves, building and handing over of community halls, land acquisition for cemeteries, and local economic development.

“I rise today to reaffirm our administration’s commitment to providing reliable, dignified, and safe community services that elevate the daily lives of residents,” the executive mayor said.

With her pledge to push service delivery daily, Mayor Makushe-Mazibuko underscored the City of Mbombela’s determination to address citizens’ needs and drive community progress.

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This initiative, which kicked off on March 10, prioritises urgent community needs, including road repairs, streetlight maintenance and other pressing issues.

According to Johannes Mulaudzi, Acting General Manager for Strategic Management Services, the drive is a targeted effort to address pressing issues and ensure better service delivery.

“We have structured the drive to focus on specific regions, where ward councillors identify urgent needs such as potholes, streetlights and illegal dumping sites that need attention,” he explained.

READ | City Of Mbombela takes a tough stance against illegal water connections

“We have already seen positive results in Mbombela and will continue to roll out the initiative to other regions.”
The drive follows months of heavy rainfall, which damaged roads and infrastructure. Mulaudzi emphasised the importance of the initiative, stating, “These efforts are crucial in getting our communities back on track.”

He further underscored the significance of the drive, saying, “As leaders, it’s our responsibility to ensure our communities receive the services they deserve. This drive is a step in the right direction, and we’ll continue working tirelessly to address the needs of our residents.”

PICTURES

The City of Mbombela is committed to making a positive impact in the lives of its residents, collaborating closely with various stakeholders to achieve this goal.

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Silulumanzi, in collaboration with stakeholders, including DWS, City of Mbombela, provincial education department, among others, hosted the National Water Week’s various activities at the Lowveld Botanical Gardens on Tuesday, 25 March 2025.

The primary goal of the National Water Week campaign is to inform communities about the critical importance of water conservation and to highlight the necessity of safeguarding the quality of water resources.

Eight primary schools from different communities within the Lowveld participated in the activities, exhibiting and presenting their projects about water conservation before a panel of judges.

Richmond Jele, the public relations manager at Silulumanzi spoke of the importance of engaging learners in initiatives of this nature, stating that they contribute to the goal of raising awareness in communities.

READ | City Of Mbombela takes a tough stance against illegal water connections

“We note that we live in an era where there is more water scarcity and our water sources are getting polluted everyday. We have taken this initiative to start educating our youngsters from an early age to become good ambassadors of water conservation and the conservation of the environment in general and to act as responsible citizens so that in the future, what they gave before, is something that their children and grandchildren will be proud of.”

The DWS provincial head, Dudu Sifunda, outlined the department’s efforts in developing the water sector to ensure water supply to all citizens.

“We are responsible for the dams and management of the water resources. We also support municipalities because for them to be able to deliver on their mandate, they need the support. We do support them through the grants, Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant because for the community to get water, they need the Infrastructure to be on the ground.

“We also support them through the Water Services Infrastructure Grant, so on yearly basis as a department, we allocate funds to these municipalities so that they can implement projects to assist in delivering water to the communities.”

READ | Seven-Point Water Intervention Plan revealed

Sifunda emphasized that additional efforts are necessary within the province regarding the responsibilities of municipalities in mitigating river pollution to achieve a sustainable water balance stating.

“The issues of water quality in the province, is a challenge, but most of the time you find that like in Msukaligwa, there are mines around there and some of them have been abandoned and most of them you find them polluting the water resource because they are no longer in use.

“However, in our department, we have the Water Act, where we regulate these mines. We do inspections, compliance, monitoring and issue directives for them as you know there are municipalities that we have taken to court because of the pollution that is occurring.

The learners shared tips on how to save water, including turning off taps when not in use, to take shorter showers, to re-use water, and to fix all water leakages.

VIDEOS: Local schools presenting their projects

They trust that these tips will assist communities in playing a part to conserve water supplies. They were also presented with prizes for their outstanding performances in different categories.

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HERE ARE THE TOP 10 FINALISTS:

Don’t miss your print copy of Mpumalanga Mirror on 13 February where the Top 10 will be speaking about their dreams of being eventually crowned the Queen on the night and walking away with a brand new Audi, cash prize and other lucrative prizes.

Do get your tickets at Webtickets Online for R200 (general tickets and R700 for VIP tickets or at your nearest Pick n Pay outlet and Boxer Stores. The crowning event will be headlined by none other than Lwah Ndlunkulu.

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Already the foundation has fundraised to build the granny a three-bedrooms house to alleviate Granny Mohlala’s problems.
Several elderly, people living with disabilities and other underprivileged benefitted from food parcels jointly contributed by Ehlanzeni District Municipality, City of Mbombela and local business jointly contributed to the goodies that the communities will enjoy during the festive season.

EDM executive mayor, Terrence Shabangu presided over the occasion which espoused the foundation’s theme: “Empower, Enact and Change for a better tomorrow.”

READ | State of the art equipment donated to KaNyamazane TVET College

Thembelihle Tlou of the foundation commended Shabangu for responding to their earnest request of changing people’s lives from COVID-19 era. She pointed out there were no positive programmes in the township, hence they embarked on their current mission of changing people’s lives. This festive programme will be their annual programme, going forward.
Cllr Shabangu has promised to do more for the community, going forward especially during schools’ opening in January 2025.

PICTURES:

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They marched from January Che Masilela to the City of Mbombela offices.This is after the City Of Mbombela advertised general worker posts a few months ago.

The ANCYL alleges that the employment process was taking too long. Chairperson in the Ehlanzeni region, Cabanga Maluleke said that they are demanding that the city advertises 600 more posts.

“We are marching here to the City of Mbombela to demand that general workers that have been appointed, must be appointed permanently. A majority of those people who have applied, are young people so we are here to check and ask the Municipality what is the problem in terms of the employment of the general workers because it is quite some time since the posts were advertised.

READ | Premier commits to prioritise mining in Mpumalanga

He further highlighted that they are planning to engage the private sector to respond to the high rate of unemployed young people in the region.

“The youth league recently had its congress and unemployment was one of the issues tackled.There are plans that we are going to announce as soon as we reopen from January 2025 on plans that we are going to roll out directed to private sector.

The memorandum was handed over to the municipality. Spokesperson, Joseph Ngala, said the employment process will be completed by the end of by March next year.

“We had over 20 000 applications for 200 posts. It has been a very lengthy process which is still ongoing and we are aware of the high unemployment rate,” said Ngala.

The City of Mbombela has been given 14 days to respond.

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He made his third appearance in the Nelspruit Magistrate’s Court for bail application after being charged for the murder of a traffic inspector, Thamsanqa Nkosi on Saturday, April 15.

In an affidavit read by his attorney, it stated that he intends to plead not guilty during trial because the shooting was not premeditated.

According to the affidavit, on the day of the incident, Mbuyane who is employed by the City of Mbombela when he called his wife, said he needed to see her urgently and was not picking up his calls.
“When I arrived at the lodge, I called her and she said she was coming out. I then kicked the door open and was confronted by the deceased.
“As we fought, I saw him putting his hand under his shirt. I thought he was taking out a weapon and that is when I pulled the one I had since I was on standby,” reads the affidavit.

READ|Hoxani Tribal Authority’s Chief Clyde Mnisi shot dead

He pleaded to be released on bail to get professional psychological counseling because he felt depressed and he is losing his mind as he is placed in a separate cell from the other inmates and has nobody to talk to.

The investigating officer’s explanation of how Mbuyane is linked to the murder revealed that the deceased was shot from the back as he sustained wounds on the back of his head and on the shoulder.

Investigating officer, Warrant Officer Albert De Lange opposed bail. His reasons included that he poses as a danger to society as he did not hesitate to pull the trigger on the day. Attempting to evade trial, attempt to influence witnesses or destroying evidence were other factors De Lange mentioned.

“If the accused is granted bail, it will undermine the objectivity of the criminal justice’s function and the public will lose faith in the system. For his safety, he should be kept in custody while he receives the necessary psychological support from correctional services. Investigations continue but I oppose bail.”

READ|Alleged fugitive shot dead at Mataffin

The matter was postponed to Tuesday, May 2.

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.@DjPruluv opening the festivities pic.twitter.com/Rv9pzJOPpI

— METROFM SABC (@METROFMSA) January 18, 2023

The glamourous awards ceremony is scheduled to take place on 29 April. The City of Mbombela will host and broadcasted live on SABC1 and supported by various SABC radio stations. Viewers can also stream the awards live on SABC Plus and METRO FM’s YouTube channel.

Our Final performance of the evening is @Nomfundo_Moh #MMA23 pic.twitter.com/mrzeEgktDd

— METROFM SABC (@METROFMSA) January 18, 2023

READ |Black Motion’s Morda ordered to return studio equipment

Following a short-lived break, the MMAs will provide a platform for interaction with music, business, public representatives, communities and the media. The awards will recognise and reward luminaries and excellence in the music industry. In addition, this year’s awards stimulate interest by unearthing talent and promoting development.

City of Mbombela: MMC Sports Arts and Culture – Ms. K Mhlanga delivers the vote of thanks #MMA23 pic.twitter.com/VH94avcbau

— METROFM SABC (@METROFMSA) January 18, 2023

They also announced a call for submission for the nominees yesterday. Nominations are open for entries from 19 January and will close on 28 February. Submissions can be done on www.metrofmmusicawards.co.za/. The MMAs comprises 20 categories and stringent requirement for albums, singles and recordings eligible released between 28 February 2022 to 28 February 2023.

Group executive: Radio, Ms Nada Wotshela, unpacks what you can expect from this years #MMA23 on METRO FM Talk with Ayabonga Cawe pic.twitter.com/AtnY4PH19a

— METROFM SABC (@METROFMSA) January 18, 2023

READ MORE | Thapelo is Season 19 Idols winner!

The Group Executive for SABC Radio, Nada Wotshela said, “we are excited to bring back one of the SABC’s biggest event that is loved by the millions of our audiences. This event has grown to be embraced by the industry. It has made an indelible mark, hence the demand for it remained high even at the time of its short break. This property presents a great opportunity to amplify the SABC’s brand equity and strengthen our efforts of taking SABC brands to the people.”

Our second performance of the night is courtesy of Mbombela’s very own @Afrotraction_ #MMA23 pic.twitter.com/jVmWLFVwlD

— METROFM SABC (@METROFMSA) January 18, 2023

The Head of Department for Culture, Sport and Recreation, Godfrey Ntombela said, “we are delighted to welcome the METRO FM Music Awards back to the province. We strongly believe that this event will reignite tourism. The fact that we are the hosts again is an indication that our province is a perfect destination for tourism and cultural activities. The opportunity to host this major event comes at the right time. We are hopeful that it will benefit the creative industry that is still reeling from the dire effects of COVID-19.”

The HoD of Culture, Sport, and Recreation – Godfrey Ntombela, welcomes our esteemed guests and unpacks #MMA23 pic.twitter.com/1TLu8jxrAG

— METROFM SABC (@METROFMSA) January 18, 2023

SABC ROM – Mr Lungile Nduvane welcomes our esteemed guests pic.twitter.com/M3PG3BKGVo

— METROFM SABC (@METROFMSA) January 18, 2023

.@Leratokganyago is our MC for the evening. pic.twitter.com/WRtkqknV9V

— METROFM SABC (@METROFMSA) January 18, 2023

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