Cape Town - Parliament says media reports that National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete may be resigning are false. This follows comments Mbete made at the ANC's land summit at the weekend, which Parliament says some reporters misinterpreted.
Speaking in Stellenbosch on Saturday, Mbete said that she would continue serving her constituency in Khayelitsha, as well as the general public, in any capacity after the 2019 elections.
According to Parliament, Mbete's "comments were made as Parliament nears the end of its 5-year term, including the tenures of its Presiding Officers and other elected public representatives, ahead of next year’s elections. Regrettably, some reporters misinterpreted her to suggest that Ms Mbete intends resigning as Speaker or departing from Parliament."
Mbete has been the National Assembly Speaker since May 2014. She is one of the longest-serving Members of Parliament since the first democratic elections were held in 1994, and has survived numerous skirmishes with opposition parties over the years. She was also a candidate in last year's hotly contested race for the ANC presidency.