Say what you will about why she lost her job, but don’t let former transport minister Dipuo Peters hear you say she was caught sleeping on the job. On announcing her resignation as an MP, Peters said she and her boss were happy with the work she did at the department.
On the morning after President Jacob Zuma announced his Cabinet reshuffle, which included replacing her with parliamentary transport committee member Joe Maswanganyi, Peters resigned.
While the former minister would not be drawn on the reasons why Zuma chose to remove her from the transport ministry, she said she could not have been removed for lack of effort and progress in stabilising the department. She went from premier of the Northern Cape to minister of energy on Zuma’s rise to power in 2009. She credited herself with migrating key department functions from knotty procurement networks to the department itself.
"One thing I know is that I have not been dismissed for failing to do my work. I have served to the best of my ability with humility and dignity. I am happy I left the department printing licences and bringing back the eNatis information system. I am leaving with a positive legacy," said Peters.
The former minister, whose illustrious run of service in legislatures and Parliament is almost as long as SA’s democracy itself, told Business Day that she made the decision to quit following persistent health concerns. Peters said she was already making arrangement to travel to Cuba for a medical procedure that she declined to elaborate on. Once back to good health, she would be available to work wherever the ANC deployed her.
She had congratulatory words for her replacement, Maswanganyi. She also praised Zuma’s decisive adjustments to the Cabinet aimed at incorporating "a younger crop of leaders" into government.
In a statement, ANC chief whip Jackson Mthembu thanked Peters for her work as minister as well as an MP: "Comrade Peters has served the movement and the people of SA in various capacities over the years with absolute distinction. On behalf of the ANC in Parliament, we thank Comrade Peters for her selfless service and dedication to the movement as its public representative."
ANC parliamentary caucus spokeswoman Nonceba Mhlauli told Business Day that Luthuli House would refer to its province-to-national lists when considering and deploying a replacement for Peters. "A member is deployed by the organisation. Any deployment of a person will be dealt with by the organisation and not by the caucus," Mhlauli said. "That would be done from the office of the secretary-general,"
Peter said she left with no regrets and encouraged Maswanganyi to maintain the foundation which her and past ministers have built.
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