On Monday, Minister in the Presidency for Women Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma was absent from the National Assembly vote on whether to remove former Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane. It was the second time she had defied the ANC's leadership, which failed to act against her the first time. Dlamini Zuma's actions raise questions about her oft-stated loyalty to the ANC.

In the days before the National Assembly vote on whether to remove former Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane, ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula publicly told ANC MPs the only reason they could not attend Monday's crucial sitting was if they were dead.

And yet, as MPs stood up one by one to vote on the motion, there was no sign of Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma.

Immediately after the vote, the ANC's Chief Whip, Pemmy Majodina, could not hide her frustration. She told Newzroom Afrika: "Her absence today was a shock to me. She has no apology; she has no permission to be absent. I can account for others; I know their whereabouts. I don't know the whereabouts of Mama Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma. As I usually do, I'm packaging the report to the secretary-general's office. It's high time that they act once and for all; it's enough now."

Dlamini Zuma also defied ANC instructions last year, in the vote on whether to adopt the Parliamentary panel's findings on the Phala Phala saga.

In that case, she stood up during the voting session and said, "As a disciplined member of the ANC, I vote yes", when ANC MPs had been instructed to vote...