Baleka Mbete
South African politician
Biography
editBaleka Mbete (born 24 September 1949) is a South African politician who was the Deputy President of South Africa from September 2008 to May 2009. She was also the Speaker of the National Assembly for two non-consecutive terms from 2004 to 2008 and from 2014 to 2019.
Quotes
edit- Why have I not engaged with him? We are not friends; we were comrades who worked together at a particular time
- I did not protect Zuma] because he was a person I worked with in my political party or that he was perhaps an ANC person
- It was on the basis of the house rules that I was implementing decisions. I have no regrets
- When I took a decision at the point at which the Constitutional Court had said it is up to Parliament to decide whether the method of voting on a particular time, in a particular motion against the president whether it should be private or it should be open. And I said it should be open. People were surprised because I was supposedly this stooge of Jacob Zuma
- We are in a moment where we are reflecting soberly. This is something touched upon on the road, get out of caucus room because South Africa is much bigger than the caucus room
- Part of the challenge we have is that part of that is actually government property, which was for ensuring that there are health facilities nearby for the president to be able to be looked after
- We can’t blame the problems of South African society on the ANC. Criminality has been in SA for more than three centuries, especially after the colonialists came and brought crime from Europe to Africa, so you can't say the ANC brought criminality
- very worried” about the xenophobic attacks and, to rectify the situation, President Cyril Ramaphosa had apologised to Zimbabweans during former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe's funeral
- On the 29th of May, the ANC will win overwhelmingly, and this is a promise we are making. It does not matter who [Zuma] did it or whether his move [MK Party] scared us and confused us.
