Collen Maine, Zukisa Faku resign as MPs

5th July 2019 By: News24Wire

Collen Maine, Zukisa Faku resign as MPs

Outgoing leader of the ANC Youth League, Collen Maine

The outgoing leader of the African National Congress (ANC) Youth League, Collen Maine, and Zukisa Faku are the latest members of the governing party to resign as members of Parliament.

Maine told News24 that he had officially tendered his resignation. He did not give any reasons.

ANC chief whip Pemmy Majodina confirmed, in a statement on Friday, that Faku had also resigned.

"Comrade Zukisa Faku's resignation will take effect as of 31 July 2019, while comrade Collen Maine's resignation is effective [immediately]," she said.

"The office of the ANC chief whip extends its gratitude to these former MPs for their distinguished service as public representatives to the people of South Africa and to the ANC in Parliament."

Faku will be replaced by her namesake, Princess Faku, on the province-to-national list of the Eastern Cape, while Maine will be replaced by Renay van Schalkwyk on the national-to-national list.

The ANC withdrew Faku's nomination for chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education last week.

Faku, a former mayor of Buffalo City, was convicted of nine counts of fraud, relating to the use of her official credit card, and sentenced to three years of house arrest and community service in 2016, while she was an ANC MP. She apparently stayed on as MP, pending an appeal process.

In the days after the announcement, NGO Equal Education campaigned to have Faku's nomination withdrawn.

Maine did not make it into President Cyril Ramaphosa's Cabinet which was announced in May.

Former ANCYL secretary general Njabulo Nzuza, who had a fallout with Maine in the later years of his presidency, was sworn in as Deputy Minister of Home Affairs. 

News24 previously reported that Maine, who was tipped to take a role in Ramaphosa's executive, said he "respected the choice of the president".

"For the first time we are seeing young people being given serious responsibilities precisely because of the youth league congress that said we need a 20% representation, [and] we received more than that," said Maine. 

It has also been reported that the ANCYL in the North West previously said that the outgoing league president would serve the party better outside of the National Assembly