Sibongile Ndlela-Simelane

{{Short description|Politician from Eswatini}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Sibongile Ndlela-Simelane

| office1 = Minister of Health

| primeminister1 = Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini

| term_start1 = 2013

| term_end1 = 6 November 2018

| predecessor1 = Benedict Xaba

| successor1 = Lizzy Nkosi

| nationality = Swazi

| occupation = Senator

| profession = Politician

}}

Sibongile Ndlela-Simelane was Minister for Health for Eswatini from 2013 to 2018 under the government of Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini.{{Cite web |title=News :: The Swaziland News |url=https://www.swazilandnews.co.za/fundza.php?nguyiphi=2974 |access-date=2022-11-15 |website=www.swazilandnews.co.za}}{{Cite magazine |title=Swaziland likely to be first to eliminate malaria in southern Africa |url=https://www.news24.com/life/wellness/body/condition-centres/malaria/all-about-prevention/swaziland-likely-to-be-first-to-eliminate-malaria-in-southern-africa-20151118 |access-date=2022-11-15 |magazine=Life |language=en-US}}{{Cite book |last=Lansford |first=Tom |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VCFoDwAAQBAJ&dq=Sibongile+Ndlela-Simelane&pg=PA2021-IA460 |title=Political Handbook of the World 2018-2019 |date=2019-03-19 |publisher=CQ Press |isbn=978-1-5443-2711-2 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Lansford |first=Tom |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PdWTBwAAQBAJ&dq=Sibongile+Ndlela-Simelane&pg=PA1407 |title=Political Handbook of the World 2015 |date=2015-03-24 |publisher=CQ Press |isbn=978-1-4833-7158-0 |language=en}} During her time as minister she led calls for lessons from southern Africa's HIV response to be applied to malaria.{{Cite web |last=Mbulo |first=Edwin |date=1 May 2015 |title=Eswatini: Health Minister - HIV Response Can Help Tackle Malaria in Southern Africa |url=https://allafrica.com/stories/201505050076.html}} She also commissioned on World TB Day in 2017 a national drug resistance survey.{{Cite web |title=World TB Day: Swazis Unite to end TB and HIV |url=https://www.afro.who.int/news/world-tb-day-swazis-unite-end-tb-and-hiv |access-date=2022-11-15 |website=WHO {{!}} Regional Office for Africa |language=en}} In 2018 she requested the arrest of an Eswatini Observer journalist who had photographed the cars of government ministers.{{Cite web |date=16 July 2018 |title=Eswatini: Minister Demands Journalist's Arrest |url=https://allafrica.com/stories/201807170135.html}} She also commissioned new offices for the Swaziland Nursing Council.{{Cite web |title=Swaziland Nursing Council Inaugurates New Office {{!}} HFG |url=https://www.hfgproject.org/swaziland-nursing-council-opens-new-office-meeting-space/ |access-date=2022-11-15 |language=en-US}}

In 2022, she was appointed Chairperson of the Eswatini Communications Commission (ESSCOM).

Ndlela-Simelane grew up in a single-parent family and announced in 2015 at Bulandzeni Church of the Nazarene that she had never met her father.{{Cite web |title=Times Of Swaziland |url=http://www.times.co.sz/news/105056-i%E2%80%99m-still-looking-for-my-dad-%E2%80%93-minister-sibongile.html |access-date=2022-11-15 |website=www.times.co.sz}}