Deputy President Paul Mashatile’s briefing to the National Council of Provinces postponed

Deputy President Shipokosa Paul Mashatile has today written to the Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) Refilwe Maria Tsipane MP, to request a postponement of the session for oral reply to questions that was scheduled for tomorrow, 19 September 2024. The Chairperson has kindly acceded to the Deptuty President's request.

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

The Deputy President's request was occasioned by two considerations:

· The passing of former minister and stalwart Dr Pravin Gordhan, earlier this week. The funeral of the former minister will be in KwaZulu-Natal on Thursday, and the Deputy President thought it prudent to allow members and former colleagues of the minister the opportunity to fully pay their respects and to show their support to the Gordhan family at this difficult time.

· In addition, the Deputy President has been advised by his medical team to take a week off his official duties rest and recuperate following the medical incident over the weekend in Tzaneen, Limpopo. While the Deputy President is no longer in any danger and is in high spirits, he is following the medical team's advice and has withdrawn from scheduled official duties for the current week.

The Deputy President, as he has demonstrated since his appointment to office during the 6th Administration, takes parliamentary oversight extremely seriously and has worked tirelessly during his time in office to boost the national executive's accountability to the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces. As such, the he will work closely with the NCOP Chairperson to find a suitable date for the rescheduling of the session as soon as possible.

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.

The Office of the Deputy President and the NCOP will communicate the alternative arrangements for the postponed session as soon as they are agreed and finalised.

Media enquiries: Mr Keith Khoza, Acting Spokesperson, on 066 195 8840

Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria