B Hlongwa announces S Ngcobo as new head of department for Gauteng
Health

5 September 2006

Mrs Sybil Ngcobo is the new head of Gauteng Department of Health. The MEC
for Health, Mr Brian Hlongwa, today announced that Mrs Ngcobo will take over
the reins at the department with immediate effect.

“We are delighted to appoint somebody with the leadership qualities and
management experience of Mrs Ngcobo to our department,” Mr Hlongwa said. “I am
confident that she will lead the department to fulfil its mandate of delivering
quality healthcare services to the people of Gauteng.”

Mrs Ngcobo joined Gauteng Department of Health in January 2005 as head of
the corporate services division. Her responsibilities included human resource
management, labour relations, communications and public relations, legal
services and information technology.

A graduate of the University of the North and University of South Africa
(Unisa), where she obtained an honours degree in Industrial Psychology, Mrs
Ngcobo served as executive director: Human Resources at the University of the
Witwatersrand in the late nineties. She subsequently moved to the Technikon
North West where she played a leading role in the merger of that institution
with the Pretoria Technikon to form the Tshwane University of Technology.

Prior to her joining Gauteng Department of Health she was the SABC's General
Manager for strategic human resources. Mrs Ngcobo says she is looking forward
to the challenge of leading the country's biggest and busiest health
department. “Our annual budget now exceeds R10-billion and we have to manage
these resources to improve the quality of health care and ensure access to
health services for all communities in the province.”

She will provide innovative leadership and management to ensure that the
department attains its strategic objectives to:

* ensure a caring climate for service users
* implement best practice healthcare strategies
* provide quality training for health workers
* listen to and communicate with communities and consumers
* establish management systems for effective decision-making.

“The vision of the department is 'Health for a better life',” says Mrs
Ngcobo. “The employees of our department including all the professional staff
are committed to these ideals and I am confident that we will deliver quality
health care and excellent services to the people of Gauteng.”

Enquiries:
Simon Zwane
Head of Communications
Tel: (011) 355 3543
Cell: 082 551 9892

Issued by: Department of Health, Gauteng Provincial Government
5 September 2006