ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe has reportedly lashed out at three ministers how resigned as MPs after they were fired by President Jacob Zuma.
According to The Times, Mantashe has accused them of only thinking about money.
We explained how and why here.
Zuma reshuffled his cabinet last week, firing finance minister Pravin Gordhan and his deputy, Mcebisi Jonas in the process. The ministers of energy and transport, Tina Joemat-Petterson and Dipuo Peters, were also fired.
Peters resigned as an MP on Wednesday, while Joemat-Petterson and Jonas resigned on Thursday.
According to The Times, Mantashe said they should have learnt from the SACP MPs who did not resign as MPs when Zuma fired them in 2014, and slated their resignation as a move to sustain the pension benefits accumulated when they were ministers.
He told the paper: "They resign to protect their pensions. When people get to the back benches they lose their pensions. Their pension will be calculated at the rate of a back-bencher.
Peters and Jonas could not be reached by the paper for comment, but Joemat-Petterson said Parliament was "not the only site of struggle for radical economic transformation". She added that she would continue to make a contribution through remaining in the ANC's National Executive Committee.