Lesufi ensures ANC’s demise

By deliberately excluding the DA from the Gauteng Cabinet, premier Panyaza Lesufi has ensured the ANC’s further demise in the 2026 local government elections and beyond. The opposite of what he supposedly intended.

According to weekend reports, the DA was omitted because Gauteng ANC leaders feared the blue machine would use key portfolios to boost its chances of becoming the province’s largest party.

This after the gap between the DA and ANC narrowed to seven percent on 29 May. Lesufi is under pressure.

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He “convinced the party’s national top brass… that the ANC could be overtaken by the DA and lose its base in the province if it acceded to the DA’s demands for strategic portfolios”.

Apparently, the DA wanted control of “infrastructure, education or health, economic development and cooperative governance and traditional affairs”.

That’s four posts out of the 10 available after Lesufi was voted in as premier by the DA. Lesufi offered three. Not what the DA wanted.

The ANC gave itself far more provincial Cabinet positions than warranted by the election results. ANC support in Gauteng shrank from 50.19% in 2019 to 34.75% in 2024, while the DA received 27.45%.

The ANC holds 28 of the 80 legislature seats. Being far short of the 50% plus one needed to pass legislation, the ANC is in a minority government with three tiny parties.

It will have to rely on others outside the executive, from among the DA (22 seats), EFF (11) and uMkhonto weSizwe party (8).

To exclude the DA, which has a greater proportion of seats in the Gauteng legislature than it has in the National Assembly, goes against the letter and spirit of the government of national unity.

It subverts democracy by thwarting the expressed will of the electorate. It is a slap in the face for the 1 079 474 people who voted DA in Gauteng. About 1 366 872 voted ANC.

The Gauteng ANC’s move is an admission of failure. Having been in majority-rule charge of SA’s richest province for 30 years, it has been unable to deliver.

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The tender-loving Gauteng government has been rocked by scandals and rip-offs, from e-tolls to Life Esidimeni (144 deaths), to “sanitising” schools during Covid (R431 million splurged).

With this track record and lingering Alex Mafia associations, the Gauteng ANC could have redeemed itself by teaming up with people who know how to get things done honestly. Any acclaim could have been shared.

But that could have meant loosening its grip on tenders, contracts and the whole patronage network, which is the lifeblood of the Gauteng ANC.

So, instead of choosing an option that stands a chance of improving Gautengers’ lives, the ANC recycled failed MECs and added a few other nobodies.

While this may appease ANC factions, it has nothing to do with serving Gauteng residents. Columnist Barney Mthombothi says Gauteng has “been allowed to fall into the grip of a bunch of illiterate and boorish incompetents. Lesufi … put together a pathetic collection of nonentities as his administration, which is likely to end in tears”.

Gauteng voted for change but has been given more of the same. Lesufi’s Cabinet is untenable. It will not last.