Manana should leave parliament too

The ANC Youth League’s comment on the unsavoury affair of former deputy minister Mduduzi Manana included a sensible suggestion.

In the wake of Manana’s announcement that he had resigned his position as deputy minister of higher education and training, the league urged him to go further and also resign from parliament.

Given that Manana has admitted he assaulted a woman outside a nightclub in Johannesburg – and in Women’s Month, to boot – the league’s suggestion is one we wholeheartedly endorse.

If you attack women, you should not be sitting in a body making laws for the well-being of all South Africans, including women.

It was bad enough that it took so long for Manana to present himself to the police after the assault; and then that it took even longer for him to do the right thing and step down from his official post (under pressure from President Jacob Zuma, reportedly), so we agree he should quit public life altogether and focus on his rehabilitation.

Worryingly, though, the rationale for the Youth League’s reaction was that Manana had brought the ANC into disrepute.

That, as we all know by now, is a far more heinous crime, in ANC eyes, than assaulting a woman.