Speaker 'honoured' by new role

2008-09-26 09:34

Abigail Isaacs

Cape Town - Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde was on Thursday elected as new speaker of Parliament and her deputy is none other than the axed deputy minister of health, Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge.

Mahlangu-Nkabinde won 260 out of 320 votes cast, convincingly beating her opponent, Sandra Botha, the DA leader in Parliament.

Madlala-Routledge was the only candidate for deputy speaker.

The new appointments come after Baleka Mbete resigned as Speaker after she was appointed deputy president of the country.

'Passionate about the institution'

Mahlangu-Nkabinde, who was formerly deputy speaker, said in a speech after her election that her appointment was "a big honour and as my colleagues in Parliament know, I am passionate about the institution".

Madlala-Routledge had made headlines after former president Thabo Mbeki fired her for taking an allegedly unauthorised overseas trip.

MPs in the National Assembly were full of praise for Mbete after she read out loud her letter of resignation. Botha wished her all of the best and said perhaps it was better that Mbete was appointed as deputy president as her "political heart beat too strongly for the position of speaker".

Dr Corné Mulder of the FF+ said Thursday was a sad day as "Parliament lost one of its best to the executive authority".

Andries Nel, deputy chief whip of the ANC, thanked her for the key role she played in the formative years of the South African democracy.

- Beeld