[1] He was sworn into the National Assembly for the first time on 1 May 2000, filling a casual vacancy in an ANC seat.
[2] He was not initially re-elected at the end of the legislative term in 2004, but he returned to the assembly on 2 September 2005, filling another casual vacancy.
[3] During his second term in the National Assembly, in 2008, Dithebe clashed with ANC Provincial Chairperson Ace Magashule after he and another ANC politician, Vax Mayekiso, took the Free State ANC to court, alleging that there had been electoral irregularities in party elective conferences which had the effect of blocking Magashule's opponents from regional leadership positions.
[4][6][7] In 2018, Dithebe was again closely involved in an unsuccessful court challenge that attempted to block that year's ANC provincial elective conference, again alleging irregularities by Magashule's supporters.
[8][9] He made a political comeback in January 2023 when he was elected to the Provincial Executive Committee of the Free State ANC.