It’s time to retire Dlamini-Zuma

It is not surprising that Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma doesn’t want to talk about her future in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Cabinet.

She ducked questions about that this week at the renaming of William Nicol Drive to Winnie Mandela Drive.

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The ANC has yet to decide what to do with the 74-year-old after she apparently deliberately defied the party’s instructions. The first was when she voted in parliament to adopt a report on the Phala Phala scandal, which would have been the first step to impeach Ramaphosa.

Then, she failed to attend a vote on the future of suspended public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane, citing illness as the reason. Voices within the ANC have called for her to be disciplined on both counts.

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It is unlikely that the ANC hierarchy will act against her as they did against other dissidents such as Ace Magashule and Carl Niehaus.

To do so would be seen in some quarters as misogynistic and a denial of Dlamini-Zuma’s role in the anti-apartheid struggle.

The obvious solution is to put her out to pasture – gently. And perhaps it is time that she retired to her KwaZulu-Natal farm to enjoy her dotage…

ALSO READ: Ramaphosa must chop some heads off, starting with Dlamini-Zuma