Kiki Rwexana

Sindiswa Patricia "Kiki" Rwexana (born 22 December 1952) is a South African politician who served two non-consecutive terms in the National Assembly from 2004 to 2008 and from 2009 to 2013. She represented the African National Congress (ANC) until October 2008, when she became the first sitting MP to resign from the party and from Parliament to join the breakaway Congress of the People (COPE), which she represented during her second term. She was active in the women's wings of both parties.

Early life Rwexana was born on 22 December 1952.

Legislative career

African National Congress: 2004–2008 She was first elected to the National Assembly in 2004, standing as a candidate on the ANC's national party list. In December 2007, she was nominated to stand for election to the ANC National Executive Committee, but she was not elected. In addition, she was the national deputy secretary of the ANC Women's League until July 2008, when she was succeeded by Mpai Mogori.

Later that year, on 28 October 2008, Rwexana and Phillip Dexter announced that they were resigning from the ANC.

Congress of the People: 2008–2013 Shilowa and Lekota's political alternative took shape as COPE, a new opposition party, and Rwexana was appointed to its interim steering committee as the party's convenor for women. After the party was formally launched, she became head of its Women's Forum. In the next general election in 2009, she was elected to represent COPE in the National Assembly, but she again did not complete her term, resigning on 1 November 2013.