ANC Women’s League president Bathabile Dlamini is the latest senior party leader to walk away from Parliament.
Her resignation comes on the heels of the resignation of former ministers Siyabonga Cwele and Jeff Radebe on Monday.
Last week, former members of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s executive, Thokozile Xasa, Dipou Letsatsi-Duba, Makhosini Nkosi and Nomaindia Mfeketo also resigned from their positions as ordinary members of the National Assembly.
Dlamini, who previously served as Minister of Women in the Presidency, was one of the controversial names on the ANC’s list of candidates for Parliament and the party was criticised for refusing to remove her and several others under a cloud of corruption allegations.
Dlamini, who was flagged by the ANC’s own integrity committee, also had damning Constitutional Court findings against her. The court asked the National Prosecuting Authority to investigate whether it should charge her with perjury for her comments about the social grants’ saga.
She had also been perceived as all powerful and untouchable by many, in and outside of the governing party, when she made it back into Ramaphosa’s Cabinet in 2018. But she failed to make the cut following the 2019 national elections.
ANC chief whip Pemmy Majodina confirmed Dlamini’s resignation to News24 on Tuesday morning.
“Yes the women’s league president resigned yesterday. I have accepted her resignation. All other comments on the matter will be handled by Luthuli House,” Majodina added.
