Fikile Mbalula Resigns as ANC Minister of Parliament

Former South African Police minister Fikile Mbalula has officially resigned as a Member of Parliament.

The African National Congress (ANC) Chief Whip, Jackson Mthembu said in a statement that the resignation of Mbalula was effective from February 26.

“The office of the ANC chief whip confirms that former minister of police, comrade Fikile Mbalula tendered his resignation as an ANC Member of Parliament in the National Assembly,” the statement reads.

The ANC made the announcement on Friday.

“While comrade Mbalula’s departure from Parliament will leave a void, we derive satisfaction from the knowledge that he will continue serving the movement as the ANC’s Head of Elections towards the 2019 General Elections campaign,” the statement added.

Mbalula was dismissed from the ANC’s National Executive during president’s Cyril Ramaphosa’s Cabinet reshuffle last month.

Mbalula has recently been elected as the head of elections prior to next year’s national vote. He is based at the ANC headquarters in Luthuli House.

The Minister is well known for his popular tweets and passion for the country. This morning he has not yet made any mention of his resignation. His latest tweet, at the time of publishing, is instead celebrating South African humour, referencing the latest SA jokes and memes about Listeriosis – “My South African compatriots – the only people in the world who can turn a moment of sorrow into humour. PROUD South African #ListeriosisOutbreak.”

UPDATE: On Friday afternoon, Mbalula tweeted confirmation of his resignation, saying: “Am now a full member of black TWITTER, I move without notice that we shall now debate BEST practices for twittermantarians…”

https://twitter.com/MbalulaFikile/status/971983407038132231