Doreen Mokgolo and Zukile Majova
- Premier Panyaza Lesufi blames poor service delivery in municipalities for the poor election results in Gauteng.
- The ANC National Executive Committee will decide the fate of the leadership of KZN and Gauteng.
Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi is refusing to be the scapegoat for the ANC’s dismal performance in the last elections in Gauteng.
Lesufu and members of the ANC Gauteng Provincial Executive Committee spent Monday battling it out with the ANC National Working Committee (NWC) at the Birchwood Hotel and Conference Centre in Boksburg.
The NWC seems determined to recommend that the leadership structures of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng should be disbanded.
The party’s support in Gauteng dropped from 50% to 35% during the national general elections in May.
To govern the country’s economic hub of Gauteng, Lesufi formed a coalition with three other political parties.
Unlike President Cyril Ramaphosa, who joined forces with the DA, Lesufi excluded the DA from his government.
Lesufi also wants the Basic Education Laws Amendment Act (Bela) to be implemented without the removal of some controversial clauses.
The tussle over the Bela Act is threatening the stability of Ramaphosa’s government of national unity
Lesufi, who became premier in October 2022, is hailed by his party as the best performing ANC premier in the country.
He is expected to argue that he inherited a sinking ship after the ANC started losing its majority in the metro councils of Tshwane, Ekurhuleni and Johannesburg.
By 2019, ANC support in Gauteng was already at 50% and fell to 36% during the 2021 municipal elections.
Unlike KZN where ANC support fell because of the emergence of the MK party, in Gauteng poor service delivery in municipalities cost the party dearly.
During election campaigning residents complained about poor service delivery, e-Tolls, load shedding, water cuts, potholes, and instability in metros.Â
Meanwhile, Bheki Mtolo, the secretary of the ANC in KZN, has called for the national leadership to also be held to account.
During the Jacob Zuma years, the ANC enjoyed a 62% majority, which fell to 57% under Ramaphosa in 2019 and dropped further to 40% in 2024.Â
Pictured above: Panyaza Lesufi.Â
Source: X
