mabedla was elected as a member of parliament at the 2009 south african general election in the pixley ka seme constituency in northern cape. during her time in parliament she was appointed a member of the defence committee. in 2012, she led a campaign to remove the former flag of south africa from the parapet of the castle of good hope in cape town. previously the old flag had flown alongside the current flag of south africa with the flag of the united kingdom, the prince's flag and the flag of the netherlands, in historical reference to the powers that had ruled south africa. mabedla said that the flags flying upset her because she felt that they represented the racist domination of non-white south africans and that they should be in a museum. in response, it was agreed that all flags except the current flag of south africa were to be removed from the parapet and placed into the castle's museum.