South Africa – Gigaba resigns as Member of Parliament

Barely days after resigning from Cyril Ramaphosa’s Cabinet as Minister of Home Affairs, Malusi Gigaba has stepped down as a Member of Parliament according to the Speaker’s office. He resigned as a Member of Parliament after 14 years.

Speaker Baleka Mbete received his resignation letter on Thursday morning.

This means he can’t be sanctioned by Parliament for lying under oath.

The Public Protector found that he had violated the Executive Code of Ethics for MPs in connection with the Fireblade Aviation matter.

Gigaba has served as the Ministers of Home Affairs, Public Enterprises and Finance.

This is the second time that Malusi Gigaba resigns as a Member of Parliament, after first being elected as an MP in 1999.

His first resignation came in 2001 before he was re-elected to the National Assembly in 2004.

This time his resignation is under far more strained circumstances.

He’s had to face two parliamentary inquiries into state capture, was found to have lied under oath by a High Court and to have violated the ethics code for MPs by the Public Protector.

Subsequently, President Cyril Ramaphosa was under pressure to fire him, leading to Gigaba’s resignation as Home Affairs Minister on Tuesday.

Just two days after Ramaphosa submitted a letter to Parliament in response to his action on the Public Protector’s report, Gigaba’s now quit.

“With the subsequent resignation of the former minister as a Member of Parliament this time, the Ethics Committee will have to make its own decision with regards to the referral.” Parliamentary spokesperson Moloto Mothapo said.

Ramaphosa is still facing a court challenge from the Democratic Alliance (DA) for keeping Gigaba in Cabinet when he took over in February.

Source : ewn.co.za