Lindiwe Sisulu to resign as MP after axing as minister

Former tourism minister Lindiwe Sisulu has notified the ANC parliamentary caucus of her intention to resign as MP.

Sisulu was left out of the executive for the first time since 1994 when President Cyril Ramaphosa removed her as a cabinet member in his reshuffle last week.

Sisulu was due to submit her resignation to the office of the ANC chief whip in the National Assembly, Pemmy Majodina, on Monday.

Confirming her intention to resign, Majodina said Sisulu had informed her she should not be redeployed anywhere after her axing by Ramaphosa.

Most of her colleagues who were fired by Ramaphosa have been redeployed to parliament to join portfolio committees. These include former ministers Maite Nkoane-Mashabane and Nathi Mthethwa and former deputy ministers Thembi Siweya and Phumulo Masualle.

“I contacted all members who were relieved from cabinet to allocate them committees but comrade Lindi Sisulu said I must not allocate her a portfolio committee because she was resigning and I will get her resignation letter on March 13 2023,” said Majodina.

“I’ve not received the letter. I reminded her this morning.”

Sisulu’s resignation from parliament means she will get a huge pension payout that she would have lost had she opted to remain an MP, through the benefit known as a loss-of-office gratuity. Sisulu is to receive at least R4m in loss of employment benefits paid to ministers and MPs on exit from office.

She has been in the executive since 1996 under former president Nelson Mandela and was reappointed by successors Thabo Mbeki, Jacob Zuma and Ramaphosa.

Sisulu led several ministries: tourism, international relations, human settlements, water & sanitation, defence, public service & administration, housing, human settlements and intelligence.

It was not established what Sisulu will be doing after her resignations but she remains a member of the ANC national executive committee to which she was elected at the 2022 party conference. It was also not clear what caused the delay in her resignation after failed attempts to get comment from her aides.

Sisulu was axed from Ramaphosa’s cabinet in what is seen as payback for her attacks on his style of leadership ahead of the conference last year. She accused him of displaying dictatorial tendencies when MPs were instructed to vote against adopting the section 89 panel report into the Phala Phala scandal.

She also accused Ramaphosa of hanging her out to dry after removing her as international relations & co-operation minister for implementing an ANC conference resolution to downgrade SA’s embassy in Israel to a ­liaison office.

Speaking to the SABC last year, Sisulu said she felt “punished” by the decision to reshuffle her for implementing the governing party’s decisions and had expected Ramaphosa to come to her defence when the Jewish community complained about the decision to downgrade the embassy but she was “left dangling alone”.

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