Staff Reporter
Free State Premier Sisi Ntombela struggled through the closing remarks of her budget vote speech on Wednesday after she fell ill while on the podium.
She stopped midway the last sentence of her speech as she seemed unable to see properly and looked drained before turning around and beckoning at Finance MEC Gadija Brown and Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation MEC Limakatso Mahasa to come to her rescue.
The two rushed to her and then assisted her out of the chamber during a sitting of the Provincial Legislature in Frankfort.
This prompted her office to issue a statement last night stating that she was in good health and resting at home.
“Following a check-up, Premier Ntombela was advised by a medical practitioner to take a day off,” read part of the statement issued by her spokesperson, Sello Pietersen.
According to the statement, Ntombela felt unwell after completing her budget vote speech as a result of fatigue.
“The Office of the Premier would like to assure people of the province that the premier is in good health,” added the statement.
On Tuesday, Ntombela spent the day in QwaQwa where Deputy President David Mabuza was conducting an oversight visit at Maluti-a-Phofung Local Municipality.
Earlier in the week, she visited an agricultural food production project started by the Methodist Church in Phase 3, Bloemfontein, among other engagements.
Meanwhile, in her speech, the premier highlighted that the provincial government would intensify the fight against corruption within its departments.
“Our fight against corruption is aggressive and fearless,” Ntombela said earlier.
“We will never stand by to see the future of our province destroyed by corruption,” she stressed.
Among the measures put in place to tackle the vice are a Fraud Prevention and Detection Implementation Plan and the anti-corruption assessment reports generated from the information received from the National Anti-Corruption Hotline.
Ntombela said her office would work closely with the provincial treasury to ensure efficiency, transparency and accountability for public funds and improve audit outcomes.
“We have strengthened capacity in key areas such as supply chain management by appointing qualified personnel,” she said.
“We will enhance financial oversight through the Audit Committee and Risk and Ethics Management Committee to ensure adherence to sound financial management principles and compliance to financial prescripts.”
Ntombela also committed to reduce the vacancy rate at the Office of the Premier to two percent and fill all critical Information and communication technology vacancies.