[2] While working at the university, she was active in the anti-apartheid movement, including through the United Democratic Front and Federation of Transvaal Women.
[6] After her re-election to Parliament in the 1999 general election, President Thabo Mbeki appointed Mabudafhasi as Deputy Minister for Environmental Affairs and Tourism.
[7] She retained that office from June 1999 until May 2009, throughout Mbeki's tenure and the brief term of his successor, Kgalema Motlanthe;[3] she served under Ministers Valli Moosa and Marthinus van Schalkwyk.
[9] In the 2014 general election, Mabudafhasi was re-elected to her final term in Parliament, ranked 44th on the ANC's national party list.
[5][4][7] Despite her resignation from Parliament, Mabudafhasi was re-elected to another five-year term on the ANC National Executive Committee at the party's next elective conference in December 2017.