In an interview with OFM News her spokesperson, Sello Pietersen, says Ntombela and the rest of the Executive Council were locked up in a meeting on Wednesday, discussing measures on how to address these challenges, including the escalating number of Covid-19 positive cases in the province. 

Ntombela on Wednesday failed to form part of a delegation that was set to launch the Covid-19 vaccination programme of Correctional Services officials and inmates. Pietersen says this was due to an Exco meeting that was held to discuss economic development issues plaguing the province. 

According to the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey, the unemployment rate now sits at 32,6% - the highest since Stats SA began the survey in 2008. It indicates that the youth are the worst affected with 74.7% of them remaining unemployed, over 40% of them are found in the Free State.

OFM News