Former Tourism Minister Derek Hanekom is the latest ANC MP to resign. Like the other former ANC MPs, Hanekom was also sidelined when President Cyril Ramaphosa cut his new Cabinet from 36 to 28 as part of his plans to reconfigure the state.
"The Office of the ANC chief whip further confirms having received the resignation letter of former Minister of Tourism comrade Derek Hanekom as an ANC Member of Parliament," the ANC said.
Hanekom had served as a minister since Nelson Mandela became South Africa's first black president 25 years ago.
Responding to a tweet on Monday commending his contribution to government, Hanekom offered what in hindsight may have been a clue to his intention to resign.
"I am ready to start my next chapter soon. But tourism will remain a passion and I'll support it wherever I find myself in the next couple of weeks," he tweeted.
Thank you! I am ready to start my next chapter quite soon. But tourism will remain a passion and I'll support it wherever I find myself in the next couple of weeks. https://t.co/OTMuwUIjbg
— Derek Hanekom (@Derek_Hanekom) June 10, 2019
Earlier on Tuesday, the resignation of former Minister in the Presidency for Women Bathabile Dlamini was widely welcomed by opposition parties who had been calling for her to quit after a number of averse court rulings against her.
In a letter to the ANC, Dlamini said she held no grudges for being excluded from Ramaphosa's Cabinet.
"We must all be worried about the expediency that has been done within the aim of discrediting some of us. I hold no grudge for being reshuffled and not being appointed," she said.
On Monday Jeff Radebe and Siyabonga Cwele officially tendered their resignations.
Last week, former Cabinet ministers Nomaindia Mfeketho, Tokozile Xasa, Susan Shabangu, and Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba also called it quits as ANC MPs after serving in various Cabinet portfolios.
Former environmental affairs minister Nomvula Mokonyane did not take her parliamentary seat when the governing party appointed her as the chair of committees.