CAPE TOWN, July 24 (Xinhua) -- South Africa's Parliament on Tuesday refuted press reports about the imminent resignation of Speaker Baleka Mbete.
Parliament spokesperson Moloto Mothapo said claims regarding the speaker's imminent resignation was false.
The South African Broadcasting Corporation reported on Monday that Mbete announced over the weekend that she would not be returning to Parliament after next year's elections.
The report said her remarks drew mixed reaction.
The Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution responded by saying that Mbete would be remembered as the presiding officer of Parliament whose impartiality was questionable.
Opposition parties frequently accused Mbete of attempting to shield former president Jacob Zuma from parliamentary scrutiny and accountability.
But according to Mothapo, what Mbete said at the African National Congress land summit was that she would continue serving the public, including her constituency of Khayelitsha in Cape Town, in any capacity after the 2019 elections.
Mbete made the comments as Parliament nears the end of its five-year term, including the tenures of its Presiding Officers and other elected public representatives, ahead of next year's elections.
Some reporters misinterpreted Mbete's remarks as suggesting that the Speaker intends to resign as speaker or depart from Parliament, Mothapo said.
