Deputy President Paul Mashatile Sits Out Gordhan’s Funeral, NCOP Session, SA All for It: “It’s Fine”

Deputy President Paul Mashatile Sits Out Gordhan’s Funeral, NCOP Session, SA All for It: “It’s Fine”

  • Deputy President Paul Mashatile is expected to be out of action for the next week while recovering at home
  • Mashatile experienced a health scare when he collapsed on stage while at an event in Tzaneen on 14 September
  • Critical onlookers fired a barrage of criticism online, with some calling the deputy president's role unnecessary
Deputy President Paul Mashatile skips NCOP and Gordhan's funeral
Deputy President Paul Mashatile received strict instructions to take a week off from his official duties to recover at home. Images: @PMashatile
Source: Twitter

TSHWANE — Deputy President Paul Mashatile will take the next week off to recuperate at home after his recent health scare.

This made Mashatile a notable absentee from former Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan's State Funeral on Thursday, 19 September.

Mashatile sits out Gordhan's funeral, NCOP session

He also missed the coinciding National Council of Provinces (NCOP) plenary session. It comes after Mashatile collapsed on stage on Saturday as he delivered the keynote address at the N'wamitwa Day Celebrations at Valoyi Cultural Village in Tzaneen, Limpopo.

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He had since written to the NCOP chairperson, Refilwe Tsipane, to postpone the session, during which he was due to reply orally to questions.

The South African reported that Tsipane agreed to the request from Mashatile, who was due to brief the session on the Government of National Unity's (GNU) plans to improve municipal performance and accelerate service delivery.

Deputy presidential acting spokesperson Keith Khoza said Mashatile's medical team had decided he should take a backseat.

"While the deputy president is [past the scare] and in high spirits, the medical team's advice was such that he should withdraw from scheduled official duties for this week," Khoza said.
"The deputy president looks forward to having an opportunity to inform the NCOP of the GNU's efforts to improve municipal governance and service delivery, among others."

Onlookers on social media were unforgiving in response to the latest developments surrounding Mashatile's break.

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South Africans downplay deputy presidency

Some social media users were indifferent to the announcement, while others dismissed the deputy presidency as ceremonial.

Briefly News scans the heated commentary.

@iAmSpreadlove wrote:

"We don't even need a deputy president. It's a ceremonial title. They do nothing except take photos."

@nordienmn said:

"The same office that denied he collapsed?"

@Moshe_Meso added:

"I think retirement will be more effective."

Source: Briefly News

Authors:
Tshepiso Mametela avatar

Tshepiso Mametela Tshepiso Mametela is a seasoned journalist with eight years of experience writing for online and print publications. He is an evening/weekend editor at Briefly News. He was a general news reporter for The Herald, a senior sports contributor at Opera News SA, and a reporter for Caxton Local Media’s Bedfordview and Edenvale News and Joburg East Express community titles. He has attended media workshops, including the crime and court reporting one by the Wits Justice Project and Wits Centre for Journalism in 2024. He was a member of the Forum of Community Journalists (FCJ) from 2018 to 2020.