Opposition parties welcomed the resignation on Saturday of the Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Training, Mduduzi Manana.
He stepped down in the wake of the appearing in court for assaulting two women during an altercation in a Johannesburg nightclub.
President Jacob Zuma said in a statement on Saturday that he had received and accepted Manana's resignation.
However, opposition parties said the fact that he had not resigned immediately spoke volumes of how the ANC dealt with women abuse.
DA MP, Belinda Bozzoli, said that “if the ANC truly wanted to prioritise protecting women from abuse, Manana should have been removed as soon as he had admitted to assaulting a women almost two weeks ago.”
“That he was not immediately fired speaks volumes about how seriously the ANC view women abuse, which is rife in our society in part because leaders are not held to account for their actions,” she said.
Bozzoli said even the President of the ANC Women’s League, Bathabile Dlamini, stated as a matter of fact that “there are those [in government] that are actually worse than him”, in a feeble attempt to defend his inexcusable actions.
Congress of the People said Manana’s resignation was long overdue.
“However, we view his resignation not as a show or genuine remorse on his part or because of action by Jacob Zuma. It is the result of unrelenting and growing wave of public pressure against his continued holding of public office. He was forced to fall on his sword,” said spokesperson, Glacier Nkhwashu.
The Freedom Front Plus leader, Dr Pieter Groenewald said that it still regrettable that President Jacob Zuma did not act immediately and fire Manana, but waited for him to resigned.
"Zuma was quick at replacing his finance minister. Here he was able to send out a strong message that violence against women and children is unacceptable, but once again he failed to prove this words with actions. This shows that he is not serious in combating violence against women and children," says Dr Groenewald.
In its reaction the ANC said that it noted and welcomed “the resignation of Comrade Mduduzi Manana as the Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Training.”
“The ANC thanks Cde Manana for his service to the people of South Africa during his tenure.
The Commission for Gender Equality said Manana’s resignation should not be an exoneration for common assault and grievous bodily harm that he is charged with.
“Justice must be served for the victims of this attack. Even if he remains an ordinary Member of Parliament (MP) the law must take its course as his resignation as the Deputy Minister of the Department of Higher Education and Training is not an exoneration of the crimes that he must answer for,” the Commission said.
“The Commission appeals to both the public and private sector and society at large not to tolerate people who commit gender based violence. We will continue as the Gender Commission through our outreach and legal programmes to educate and raise awareness about the scourge of gender based violence in our communities,” it said.
