PRESIDENCY
Baleka Mbete’s long walk to thwarted ambition
It has been a tough two years for National Assembly speaker Baleka Mbete. And she is not out of the woods yet. The unravelling of her political aspirations arguably began the moment she took up her post. The DA pounced on her, questioning whether, as a simultaneous holder of a top-six position in the ANC — that of national chairwoman — she could be an objective referee between parties in Parliament. She is among four speakers who have served in the post since 1994 and this is her second stint at it. She followed in the footsteps of Frene Ginwala, who served two terms. She took up the post again in 2014 after Max Sisulu and Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde, who served briefly during Kgalema Motlanthe’s short caretaker presidency.In 2014, Mbete was denied the position of deputy president of the country and placed in the speaker’s chair. At the time, the Sowetan reported that she had taken ill upon receiving the news that ANC deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa had been chosen as the country’s seco...
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