Lesufi’s leadership qualities depend on his involvement in the R431m bungle – expert

Gauteng ANC chair and provincial education MEC Panyaza Lesufi’s R431 million school decontamination scandal could – according to political analysts – cost him the premiership if he fails to clear his name.

With the Gauteng Provincial Legislature set to hold a special sitting to elect the new premier today, experts said although Lesufi had proven to be an “active leader” during his tenure as the MEC for education, the Covid scandal could cost him.

In June 2021, the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) reported the procurement process conducted by the Gauteng department of education was “manifestly unlawful”.

“The department paid over R431 million to service providers pursuant to a process that was haphazard, unfair and littered with procurement irregularities,” SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said at the time.

Lesufi said in August last year, action would be taken against those implicated, “even himself”.

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“When the final report is released, we will act on it and act decisively without fear or favour of who is affected, even if it’s me,” he said. “I will go to the premier [David Makhura] and tell him that the report says he should act against me and I will not make it difficult for the premier.”

In February, the SIU Special Tribunal set aside the contracts awarded to service providers.

The investigation revealed that the procurement process was not cost-effective, as service providers were not paid per square metre of the area cleaned,” Kganyago said then.

“Rather, a senior official in the Gauteng department of education appears to have arbitrarily decided to offer a fee of R250 000 to R270 000 for the decontamination of primary schools; R250 000 to R290 000 for secondary schools; and R250 000to R300 000 for district offices. The fees bear no relation to the work done by service providers, or the cost of material used.”

However, the final report is yet to be released. Melanie Verwoerd, ex-ANC MP and former South African ambassador to Ireland, said Lesufi’s leadership qualities depended on his involvement in one of the biggest corruption claims the department has faced.

“He showed himself to be a strong leader. But it’s not good enough just to be a strong leader, you know. There also needs to be strong values behind you,” she said.

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“And, therefore, it needs to be clarified whether he was involved in any of the scandals – and if he is, that would prove that he’s not a good leader with strong values. So far it hasn’t been proven [that he was involved] and we need to wait for that to be.”

Political analyst Dr Levy Ndou agreed with Verwoerd and said Lesufi had been a very active leader in the education sector, which proved he would be active in his new role.

‘Lesufi will not be able to fill Makhura’s shoes’

However, another political analyst, Prof André Duvenhage, said Lesufi would not be able to fill Makhura’s shoes, because even though Makhura presided over scandals, he was not involved in any of those.

“The same cannot be said about the new premier. It’s going to be difficult but what we know is that in certain ANC circles he is a very popular figure, [which could get him the support he needs],” he said.

“But what I definitely know is that, specifically in the white circles, he’s not that popular due to the way he dealt with schools and also private schools and a number of controversial issues.”

The Freedom Front Plus said Lesufi becoming the new premier has proven that the ANC was “drinking down to the dregs to find good leaders, given his lack of service delivery in his education portfolio and his incessant racial war, based on false grounds, against the Afrikaans school community in general”.

“His premiership will most probably also be characterised by poor and divisive leadership, which will bring about even further decline in Gauteng,” advocate Anton Alberts, the party’s national chair and MPL, said.

“His premiership will land Gauteng in a quagmire of racial conflict, further damage the already struggling economy, and put an end to any form of social cohesion and cooperation between the people of Gauteng.”

– reitumetsem@citizen.co.za