When mud-slinging becomes strategy: the targeting of Nomagugu Simelane

OPINION

Mafika Mndebele

There is an old saying in politics: “Throw enough mud, and some will stick.” It is a cynical strategy, but one that has been used for centuries to tarnish reputations and derail careers. Today, we are seeing it deployed, in its crudest form, against KwaZulu-Natal Health MEC, Nomagugu Simelane.

Social media was set ablaze this morning with a sensational claim: that Simelane was “intercepted at King Shaka International Airport with a bag stuffed full of cash.” The headline was explosive, designed to travel fast, trigger outrage, and stick in the public imagination. Yet, within minutes of examining the so-called “evidence,” the cracks in the story began to show.

The photograph attached to the post - meant to lend credibility - was not even taken at an airport. It was clearly shot in a hospital or government office corridor, complete with wall-mounted fire equipment, clinical signage, and the familiar dull ceiling panels of an institutional building.

This is not an isolated incident of sloppy reporting; it is a calculated smear. And this is not the first attempt to tarnish her. Many other claims have been thrown into the public arena — from the intense scrutiny of her family’s farm, despite it being owned by a company registered by her parents as far back as 1996 (and resigned from in 2004), long before she ever became an MEC, to the deliberate targeting of her department by opportunists who weaponise the reality that health, like many sectors, is chronically underfunded.

The latest “bag of cash” hoax did not appear out of nowhere. It follows repeated, coordinated calls for her removal — an agenda that clearly drives this smear. People desperate to become MPLs, to occupy positions of power they cannot earn honestly, are colluding with external forces to slander Comrade Nomagugu.

In their desperation, they do not even realise that in attacking her, they are damaging the very image of the ANC itself. The goal of these campaigns is not to prove wrongdoing. The goal is to plant an image — of bags of cash, of airport drama — so that even if the story collapses under scrutiny, the association between Simelane’s name and scandal lingers.

It is reputational sabotage, dressed up as “breaking news.”This is how political character assassination works. It doesn’t rely on facts; it relies on volume. Throw accusation after accusation, mix in some doctored images or misleading headlines, and hope that the constant noise drowns out reason.

Those orchestrating this nonsense are not seeking justice — they are waging psychological warfare, counting on public fatigue and cynicism to do the rest.

Worse still, they are insulting the intelligence of South Africans. They believe that we will see a headline and shut off our critical thinking, that we will mistake every social media post for gospel truth.

They assume we cannot spot the difference between an airport and an office corridor, or between fact and fabrication. But South Africans are not fools. We have lived through decades of propaganda, disinformation, and manufactured scandals. We have learned to ask questions, to interrogate sources, to look beyond the noise.

As a seasoned cadre, Nomagugu Simelane will pass through this storm. But we can also see through it. And enough is enough. Smear campaigns thrive when good people stay silent.

We should not.

Today it is Nomagugu Simelane. Tomorrow it could be anyone — any public servant, any community leader, any citizen who dares to step into the arena.

The antidote is vigilance and discernment. We must question sensational headlines, examine the evidence (or lack thereof), and refuse to share unverified claims. Because every time we do, we become unwitting foot soldiers in someone else’s dirty war.

To those who think this tactic will work, who believe they can destroy reputations with cheap lies and stolen images: we see you. We see your strategy. And we are not as gullible as you think.

Mndebele is an ANC MPL and a former party spokesperson

*The opinions expressed in this article does not necessarily reflect the views of the newspaper.

DAILY NEWS