Linguistic error: Panyaza Lesufi ‘understands very well’ how his promises are believed

The Gauteng premier’s back-pedalling on his supposed promise that Soweto residents’ Eskom debt would be scrapped – he blamed it on a “linguistic error” – is evidence of his political opportunism.

In that Panyaza Lesufi is no different from his comrades in the ANC and this will also not be the last time he has to explain remarks which cause outrage, says a political analyst.

In a statement, Lesufi’s spokesperson, Sizwe Pamla, said the premier had taken note of the reaction which came after his debt remarks and said “when explaining the debt relief programme offered by Eskom at the ANC workshop, he made an error and referred to debt relief to communities rather than municipalities”.

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“Linguistic errors sometimes occur when one tries to simplify complex government policy into programmes accessible and understandable to the public,” Pamla said.

“We are happy national government has agreed that people owing Eskom for years – all those debts have now been scrapped.”

However, political analyst Arthur Shopola said Lesufi was one of the intelligent ANC deployees and leaders and that “he understands very well what a public statement made by a person in his position can do to the minds of the citizens”.

“A typical statement is one by Jacob Zuma on free education… Such statements have a huge impact on institutional trust and public confidence in leaders, but it can also influence voters.

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“Hence when we analyse those kinds of utterances, we focus on the timing, because political opportunists target election times to make all these sorts of promises.

“Lesufi’s actions cannot be isolated from political opportunism. He is a typical ANC politician after all,” he said.

Eskom refuted Lesufi’s comments, adding that municipal debt relief had conditions the municipalities are required to fulfil over the next three years, alongside high-level intervention and a continuous, coordinated multistakeholder approach to deal with the mounting debt.

The power utility said it would be pinning its hopes on the municipal debt relief programme facilitated by National Treasury.

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Opposition parties also called out the premier, with the Democratic Alliance (DA) criticising Lesufi’s abrupt shift in political discourse about the outstanding electricity debts owed by consumers in the province.

Solly Msimanga, the Gauteng provincial leader of the DA, contended that Lesufi, in addressing residents, was providing false information.

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) accused Lesufi of claiming victory and using the replacement of transformers for political campaigning, claiming that communities had paid for the replacement of electricity transformers, not the Gauteng government.

“The premier falsely takes credit for replacing transformers while, in reality, community members were compelled to make financial contributions for Eskom to perform these replacements,” it said.

“The communities Panyaza purports to electrify have endured two to three years in darkness due to burnt-out transformers from load shedding.

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This has caused serious economic and social ramifications. “This is a desperate attempt to salvage the ANC’s future in the 2024 elections. “Premier Lesufi is engaged in publicity stunts,” the EFF said.

Meanwhile, political economy analyst Lesedi Phoshoko said the ANC, in a desperate bid to maintain power, seems to be adopting unconventional measures.

“It is evident the allure of populism is likely to intensify in the coming months as parties strive to retain their influence,” she said. “Last year, Lesufi suggested he would support a similar writeoff for money owed by Soweto residents to Eskom, so how is it a mistake when he’s regularly bringing it up.

“Somewhere around May, the ANC in Ekurhuleni pledged its endorsement of a budget put forth by the EFF. However, this support came with a condition – specifically, the agreement to forgive the outstanding electricity debts of residents, amounting to billions [of rands].

“This proposition implies a substantial loss for the metro, approximately R20 billion, representing a demand that, while potentially popular, carries significant and potentially detrimental consequences.”

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