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DA's head of policy Gwen Ngwenya resigns

The Democratic Alliance's Gwen Ngwenya has resigned from her position as head of policy, News24 has learnt.

Ngwenya handed in her resignation last week after only serving in the post for 11 months.

She confirmed on Thursday that she was no longer head of policy at the DA.

However, she is still a member of the party and will continue to serve as a DA member of Parliament, where she sits on the portfolio committees of energy, justice and correctional services and the Standing Committee on Finance.

When asked for the reasons for her resignation, Ngwenya referred questions to party spokesperson Solly Malatsi and the office of DA leader Mmusi Maimane.

"We thank Gwen Ngwenya for the hard work she has done in developing the party's policy platform. This will now culminate in the launch [of] our elections manifesto," Malatsi said in a text to News24.

"She will continue to serve the party as a member, an MP and our shadow spokesperson on energy."

Malatsi did not give reasons for Ngwenya's resignation.

Ngwenya - a former chief operating officer for the Institute of Race Relations - was appointed to the position by Maimane in February 2018, having built up a reputation as a prominent polemicist for her take on heated debates.

She is known for her classical liberal views, publicly speaking out against policies that, among other things, would lead to the enforcement of racial quotas.

News24 reported in August 2018 that Ngwenya's policies closely aligned with that of former head of policy Gavin Davis and fellow MP Dr Michael Cardo.

Davis and Cardo made the news last year after sending a letter to party delegates ahead of the party's federal congress in April last year, urging them not to not adopt a proposed "diversity clause" proposed by Maimane, that, in their view, could lead to the replication of racial quotas.

Rather, the party should adopt a diversity clause that represents diversity of thought, where members are treated as individuals, they argued.

The classical liberal view won the debate at the party's federal congress, and it adopted a diversity clause in the constitution and a clause that explicitly rejected quotas of any kind.

*This story has been updated to include DA spokesperson Solly Malatsi's comment.

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