When news broke that the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, planned an allegedly unauthorised R93 000-trip to Vietnam last weekend, it was like deja vu for those who know her well.
In 2006, she was lionised after then President Thabo Mbeki fired her over an unauthorised R160 000-trip to Spain.
She however denied guilt, claiming authorisation was withdrawn when she was already in Spain.
The whole issue became lost in the war of words between the pro- and anti-Mbeki factions in the cold war that was raging to discredit and unseat Mbeki.
Recently, Madlala-Routledge said she did not need authority from National Assembly Speaker Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde as she was on a Working Group on Inter-Parliamentary Union business.
She also claimed she had informed Mahlangu-Nkabinde at least a week earlier, and not the Friday before as Mahlangu-Nkabinde alleged.
A closer look at the story however revealed a string of last-minute travel authorisations from her superiors, a well-connected Zulu woman with a royal mien, and a history of strained relations with seniors.
Some former colleagues even claim she is a "ticking time bomb".
As was the case with former ANC spokesperson Carl Niehaus, they claim the party would make a huge mistake of judgement to elevate her to any public leadership position.
Madlala-Routledge features 14th on the party's candidate lists for Parliament and there is talk of her becoming the next Speaker.
The 56-year-old shot to fame after her election to the ANC's December 2007 National Executive Committee in Polokwane.
She made a name for herself by speaking out against Mbeki's denialist stance on HIV/Aids and then Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang's bizarre utterances on garlic and beetroot, while she was her deputy.
She became heroine of the anti-Mbeki lobby after being sacked in what was widely considered an unfair move.
The trip to Spain was the end, rather than the beginning of a string of allegedly unauthorised trips Madlala-Routledge had planned while she was in Cabinet.
An insider said then Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota caught her more than once while on her way on unauthorised trips, each time denying rules required her to seek the minister's approval.
More than once presidential permission for trips as deputy minister was sought while aboard the plane because she did not regard authorisation as necessary.
At the time of her dismissal she retorted at a Press conference that it was not uncommon for ministers to travel without approval from the Presidency, because they often left at short notice.
It is however difficult to get a clear picture of Madlala-Routledge, as she seems to have two very different faces.
The sympathetic describe her as a plain talker who does not take kndly to excessive bureaucracy, who has a lot of integrity and who cannot bear incompetence or injustices.
Others claim she is a "very difficult person" and a "continual embarrassment" to her superiors.
They also claim she has no financial savvy and tends to spend more money than she has.
The Aids NGO, the Treatment Action Campaign, helped her raise money after her sacking after she claimed in a newspaper report that she struggled to make ends meet.
This was despite the fact that she retained her job as an MP.
Could power and money lead to her downfall as someone who has known her for long suggested?
She is perhaps a little undiplomatic; more of an NGO-style activist as her background suggests, than someone who is comfortable with the smooching and pretence that accompanies politics.
Madlala-Routledge comes from a humble home in KwaZulu-Natal.
However, due to royal associations of her clan, she is treated like a queen when she goes home on official visits.
Her KwaZulu-Natal links have ingratiated and kept her in favour with the ANC leadership of the day.
It is said she is very close to ANC leader Jacob Zuma.
She was appointed caucus chair in 2008 as part of the realignment of ANC structures in Parliament after Mbeki was ousted as party president.
Barely 10 months later she rose to the powerful position of Deputy Speaker after then speaker, Baleka Mbete was appointed Deputy President in the wake of Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka's resignation in solidarity with Mbeki.
Buoyed by her SACP background, her high intelligence and charm, Madlala-Routledge appears steadfastly set on the path to the top.
The question on many lips, however, is if this is her time to shine, why was she not appointed Health Minister after Tshabalala-Msimang was moved to the Presidency in October last year?
Madlala-Routledge has told friends that she was approached by Zuma to fill the position, but declined because she had made too many enemies in the administration due to her outspokenness.
She claims to have been bullied by her former minister, but other sources claim Tshabalala-Msimang and some officials were in fact "terrorised" by her.
Although it is said she performed very well as caucus chair, insiders say, like with Lekota and Tshabalala-Msimang before, relations between Madlala-Routledge and her boss at Parliament, Mahlangu-Nkabinde, are strained.
Madlala-Routledge reportedly denied this.
Mahlangu-Nkabinde, whose office would not comment on the matter, is not an easy person to work with either.
Those who have worked with her expressed reservations on her commitment and competence.
As Deputy Speaker there was mistrust between her and Mbete that there was no official handover when Mbete was moved up.
Mahlangu-Nkabinde occupies the safe number 62 on the ANC's election lists, but as she is regarded as a Mbeki sympathiser, her chances of a powerful office are small.
Some people say the latest spat between her and Madlala-Routledge is a result of the current election list process, and that Mahlangu-Nkabinde, like those before her, can be outshined by her junior.
Some however expressed sympathy with Mahlangu-Nkabinde, believing Madlala-Routledge was in the wrong with regards to the trip.
Legal opinion is being obtained on what parliamentary rules say.
As in her previous disputes with ministers, when she approached either Zuma or Mbeki, Madlala-Routledge has allegedly asked for ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe to intervene.
Mantashe did not deny this, but said: "I do not feed rumours."
Madlala-Routledge's office yesterday said she had no comment on the allegations.
Whether the latest spat is due to Madlala-Routledge being a serial offender or a serial victim, it is almost a certainty that she will see controversy again - sooner rather than later.
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