Thandiswa Marawu on Monday became the first Eastern Cape ANC leader to join the newly formed African Transformation Movement.
She tendered her ATM membership form, along with five other members of her family, at a small media briefing in Butterworth on Monday.
Marawu said: “I have tendered my letter of resignation to the ANC.”
This was after she revealed on Friday that she planned to dump the ANC in a week or two, citing factionalism and violence in the party as her reason. ATM has adopted peace as its slogan.
ATM premier-elect Veliswa Mvenya accepted membership forms from Marawu, her three daughters – Zikhona Phaphama, Fortunate and Denis Kayingane – as well as her helper and family friend Linda Magwentshu.
The word is that more is yet to come, as quite a number of ANC Eastern Cape bigwigs are expected to follow suit.
ATM spokesperson Zama Ntshona said Monday’s announcement was strictly a family thing.
“Servant Marawu will announce other big names who will also join ATM at a press conference to be convened soon,” Ntshona said.
“I am with my family here today, as well as my domestic worker. That is for starters,” the former mayor and ANC provincial treasurer said.
Zikhona Phaphama posted pictures of herself alongside her mother in ATM regalia on Facebook on Monday morning, saying it was a #FamilyThing.
Marawu was part of the group that lost to the Oscar Mabuyane-led executive when the ANC held its elective provincial conference in October 2017.
She was also at the forefront of the campaign to have Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma as the ANC president against Cyril Ramaphosa.
She said she chose ATM over the ANC because she is a loyal member of Chief Apostle Caesar Nongqunga’s Twelve Apostles’ Church in Christ, the founding member of the new political party.
Nongqunga made headlines when he called on members of the church to dump the big banks back in 2016 and bank with VBS Mutual Bank.
The church has 4.5-million members.