Former ANC MP Makhosi Khoza has resigned from the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) just nine months at the helm of the civil society movement’s local government programme.

OUTA CEO Wayne Duvenhage confirmed Khoza’s resignation “with a heavy heart” on Thursday.

In her resignation, Khoza said she wanted to focus her attention on “searching for innovative solutions to eliminate the language barrier in our education system”.

She also stated that her resignation was also fuelled by her belief that while serving in OUTA she could not fight against what she calls the inconsequence and coldness of political leaders in the face of collapsing public services as well as the suffering of local communities.

She said she had been trying to secure a meeting with Zweli Mkhize, the minister of cooperative governance and traditional affairs, after being “painfully” made aware of the “total collapse of municipalities” as incorruptible public servants are being fired.

“The extent of the indifference of the current political regime, abrupt and painful end of public servants’ career with high moral stamina, who refused to take unlawful instructions from their corrupt political bosses.”

Khoza joined OUTA after her political party, African Democratic Change, proved a dismal failure. She started the party following her resignation from both ANC and parliament where she sat on the committee probing the SABC.

At the time of her resignation from the ruling party, Khoza said that she realised that staying in the ANC would have killed her. This was after she openly criticised former president Jacob Zuma and refused to toe the party line on a motion of no confidence vote against Zuma.

Although not clear whether she might be returning to the ANC, she has been genial towards Zuma’s successor, President Cyril Ramaphosa. When Ramaphosa took over from Zuma, Khoza said she felt sorry for him as he was inheriting a system where government promotes "dismal failures".

“If there is one person I feel sorry for‚ it’s the president of the republic‚ Cyril Ramaphosa. People are already saying [that] he is not decisive. Obviously you are not going to be decisive if you are finding yourself in an environment where you have to take collective decisions with people that are severely compromised. It is going to be very difficult for him. It is not going to be easy‚” Khoza said at the time.

Khoza is however not on the ANC list of people nominated for parliament which has been sent to the Independent Electoral Commission ahead of the May 8 general elections.