The Democratic Alliance's (DA's) former head of policy, Gwen Ngwenya, has declined to take up a seat in Parliament. She announced this in a post to her Twitter account on Thursday morning.

Ngwenya, who resigned as head of the party's policy unit in January, said she'd like to work "on issues at the nexus of tech and public policy".

She added: "There are great people who will be on those benches," before wishing the party a "successful term".

Ngwenya was formerly the chief operating officer of the Institute of Race Relations.

She resigned as policy head in a scathing letter to DA leader Mmusi Maimane about the development and implementation of policy, criticising leadership for not taking it seriously.

Ngwenya remained a party member after her resignation.