South Africa’s Small Business Development Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni has been appointed as Acting Minister in the Presidency responsible for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation until further notice, the Presidency announced on Wednesday.
Ntshavheni replaces the late Jackson Mthembu who died last week of coronavirus-related complications.
In making the announcement, the presidency said Ntshavheni would continue to perform her responsibilities as Minister of Small Business Development while acting as Minister in The Presidency.
Long-serving minister Mthembu was laid to rest on Sunday in Pretoria after a church service in which President Cyril Ramaphosa paid homage to him as a man of high integrity who dedicated his work not to the president or the ruling African National Congress party but to the people first and foremost.
“It is the greatest tragedy to have lost him, particularly at this time, as we strive to return to a path of integrity, of selfless service and transformation,” Ramaphosa said of the late 63-year-old minister.
NM/jn/APA