Phumzile Van Damme said yesterday that, while she had resigned as a Democratic Alliance (DA) MP, she had not resigned from the party.
She was quoted by TimesLive as saying: ‘I remain a member of the DA. I have not relinquished my membership, nor have I made an indication that I have.’ The party might have misunderstood her, she said. ‘I think the party made an honest mistake or misunderstood. I don’t know.’
On Thursday, Van Damme announced her resignation as an MP in a statement: ‘To be clear, I will not be joining another political party. Nor will I be using my time to launch attacks on the DA.
‘I leave on my own terms, having made my own decision. Nonetheless, in a climate of rumours and the need to create heroes and villains, my resignation as an MP is not because the DA is a so-called “racist party” but because of a clique of individuals. And in order not to make the good women and men still under the DA suffer, I will not delve further on this.’
TimesLive reported that Van Damme’s resignation did not come as a surprise, as it had been part of the rumour mill within DA circles amid claims that there were plans to reinstate charges against her stemming from a verbal altercation she had with a shopper at the V&A Waterfront in 2019.
The report said tension between her and party leader John Steenhuisen had lingered after he granted her a sabbatical last year that she insisted she had not asked for.