Sefora Hixsonia "Sisi" Ntombela (born 16 April 1957) is a South African politician who was the 6th

Premier of the Free State The Premier of the Free State is the head of government of the Free State province of South Africa. The current Premier of the Free State is Sisi Ntombela, a member of the African National Congress, who was appointed in March 2018. She took off ...

and a Member of the

Free State Provincial Legislature The Free State Provincial Legislature is the primary legislative body of the South African province of Free State. It is unicameral in its composition, and elects the premier and the executive council from among the members of the leading party ...

for the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a Social democracy, social-democratic political party in Republic of South Africa, South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when ...

. She previously served as the Free State MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and Human Settlements and as MEC for Social Development. Ntombela was also the Deputy President of the

African National Congress Women's League The African National Congress Women's League (ANCWL) is an auxiliary women's political organization of the African National Congress (ANC) of South Africa. This organization has its precedent in the Bantu Women's League, and it oscillated from b ...

and the treasurer of the Free State ANC.

Early life and career

One of six children, Sefora Hixsonia Ntombela was born in the small farming town of Tweeling in the Free State. She was given the nickname of "Sisi" at a young age. She attended the Tweeling Combine School and matriculated from Kganyeng Secondary School. She went on to study at Bonamelo Training College and returned to the Tweeling Combine School as a teacher. Due to

Apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

and the tense political situation at the time, she secretly taught her pupils about

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...

. One of the pupils was the school principal's child and reported her for the secret lessons. She left the teaching profession due to the matter.

Political career

Ntombela worked for the Department of Health as a family planner and youth consultant. Later on, Ntombela became a member of the

and was elected the chairperson of the Tweeling

branch. She soon became Regional Chairperson. Following the 1994 elections, Ntombela was elected mayor of the Tweeling municipality and served in the position until her election to the

in 1999. She remained in the legislature until she was appointed to the National Assembly in 2001. She returned to the provincial legislature in 2004 and was named as chairperson of both the Social Development and Health Portfolio Committees. In May 2009, newly elected Free State Premier

Ace Magashule Elias Sekgobelo "Ace" Magashule (born 3 November 1959) is a South African politician and former anti-apartheid activist who was Secretary General of the African National Congress (ANC) until his suspension on 3 May 2021. He served as the Premier ...

announced that Ntombela would take up the post of MEC for Social Development. Ntombela was elected Deputy President of the African National Congress Women's League in August 2015. Magashule reshuffled his Executive Council in October 2016 and appointed Ntombela to the Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and Human Settlements portfolio of the Executive Council.

Premiership

In March 2018, Ntombela was selected by the African National Congress to succeed Ace Magashule as

. She took office on 27 March 2018 and became the fourth female Premier of the province. She was elected Treasurer of the Free State ANC branch in May 2018. Following the May 2019 elections, the

announced that it had retained Ntombela in her position as Premier of the Free State. She was elected to a full term when the legislature reconvened on 22 May 2019. At the ANC's provincial conference held in January 2023, Ntombela was defeated by the former convenor of the interim provincial committee (IPC) and MEC in her cabinet Mxolisi Dukwana in the election for the provincial chairperson of the party. She also failed to gain election to the Provincial Executive Committee. On 5 February 2023, ''

Daily Maverick ''Daily Maverick'' is a South African daily online publication and weekly print newspaper, with offices in Cape Town and Johannesburg. Its readership is spread across South Africa and the world, with approximately 8 million readers per month. I ...

'' had reported that the newly elected ANC PEC had taken the decision to recall Ntombela as premier. On 21 February 2023, Ntombela tendered her resignation after consultations with the ANC's national leadership. Dukwana succeeded her as premier.

Personal life

Ntombela is married to ANC Member of Parliament, Madala Ntombela. She tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

in October 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ntombela, Sisi Living people 1957 births African National Congress politicians Premiers of the Free State (province) 21st-century South African politicians 21st-century South African women politicians People from the Free State (province) Members of the National Assembly of South Africa Women members of the National Assembly of South Africa Women members of provincial legislatures of South Africa Members of the Free State Provincial Legislature