Mashatile misses NCOP session and Gordhan funeral following health scare

Deputy President Paul Mashatile will miss both the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) session and former Minister Pravin Gordhan’s funeral, scheduled for Thursday, 19 September, due to a recent health scare.

Mashatile collapsed at the weekend while delivering a keynote address at N’wamitwa Day Celebrations in Tzaneen, Limpopo.

PAUL MASHATILE SKIPS PARLIAMENT SESSION

The Presidency confirmed that Mashatile wrote to the chairperson of the NCOP, Refilwe Tsipane, to request a postponement of the session for oral reply to questions, and she acceded to the request.

In line with questions from the NCOP, Mashatile was due to brief the Council on the 7th Administration’s plans to improve municipal performance and accelerate service delivery challenges in some municipalities.

“His medical team has advised him to take a week off his official duties to rest and recuperate following the medical incident over the weekend in Tzaneen, Limpopo. While the deputy president is no longer in danger and is in high spirits, he is following the medical team’s advice and has withdrawn from scheduled official duties for the current week,” Paul Mashatile’s acting spokesperson, Keith Khoza, said.

Khoza also said the office of the deputy president and the NCOP would communicate the alternative arrangements for the postponed session as soon as they are agreed upon and finalised.

“The deputy president looks forward to having an opportunity to apprise Parliament of the Government of National Unity’s efforts to improve municipal governance and service delivery, accelerate the process of land reform, and boost South Africa’s agricultural output and food security, as well as the imminent rollout of plans to fight crime and deal with the emergent scourge of criminal extortion and other forms of economic sabotage,” he added.