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Sisisi Tolashe steps aside amid party disciplinary probes
ANC Women’s League president and Social Development Minister Sisisi Tolashe will take a leave of absence from her leadership role in the league to deal with internal disciplinary issues, the African National Language (ANC) confirmed Sunday. Tolashe remains a cabinet minister but will step back from African National Congress Women’s League (ANCWL) duties while the party’s National Disciplinary Committee (NDC) processes charges against her.
Tolashe steps aside
The ANC said Tolashe requested leave to “focus on the disciplinary process and allow the organisation space to handle the matter without interference.” The charges stem from a report by the ANC Integrity Commission, which found that Tolashe’s public statements on the Phala Phala scandal and the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry brought the party into disrepute.
In February 2026, Tolashe told an ANCWL rally that the Madlanga Commission was “a waste of time” and accused it of being used by “imperialist forces” to target President Cyril Ramaphosa. “We will not allow the president to be removed by imperialists,” she said. The comments sparked backlash from opposition parties and civil society, who accused her of undermining a judicial commission investigating criminal infiltration of the state.
The Integrity Commission report, tabled in April, said Tolashe violated the ANC’s constitution and communications policy by “prejudging the outcome of a legally constituted commission” and “attacking state institutions.” It recommended she face the NDC. Tolashe, 67, was elected ANCWL president in July 2023 after the league was rebuilt from years of infighting.
A Ramaphosa ally, she was appointed Minister of Social Development in June 2024. She has been a vocal defender of the president during the Phala Phala controversy, which involves the 2020 theft of foreign currency from Ramaphosa’s game farm. In a brief statement, the ANCWL said deputy president Maropene Ramokgopa will act as president during Tolashe’s leave.
“We respect Comrade Tolashe’s decision to subject herself to the organisation’s processes,” the league said. Tolashe has not commented publicly on her leave, but in May, she told Sunday World she stood by her remarks: “I spoke as a leader of women. I will defend the ANC and its president.” The DA and EFF have also called for her to step aside from the cabinet. DA MP Bridget Masango said: “You cannot have a minister who attacks commissions of inquiry while heading a department that must work with the justice system on GBV and child protection.”
This is the second time an ANCWL president has faced discipline in three years. Tolashe’s predecessor, Bathabile Dlamala, was found guilty of perjury in 2022 over her handling of the social grants crisis. The NDC has not set a date for Tolashe’s hearing. The ANC’s step-aside rule requires members charged with corruption to vacate their positions, but it does not automatically apply to disciplinary cases without criminal charges.
Tolashe’s leave adds to pressure on Ramaphosa’s cabinet, with Police Minister Senzo Mchunu, National Commissioner Fannie Masemola, and Deputy Minister Bernice Swarts all suspended or on leave over separate scandals.
