Gauteng Sopa 2025: What Premier Panyaza Lesufi needs to say

Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi is tasked with providing a bold vision for the province during his State of the Province Address (Sopa).

As the premier prepares to deliver his Sopa on Monday evening, opposition parties have highlighted the provincial government’s shortcomings.

Rival leaders say numerous pledges from 12 months ago have fallen short of the mark and warn that more of the same will not be adequate.

Billions spent on Gauteng

In Lesufi’s 2024 Sopa, he listed a host of impressive numbers and stated that it was time for “less talk, more work”.

He boasted about R14.5 billion spent over five years on enterprises owned by society’s marginalised, as well as a R2 billion budget increase in community safety.

Another R2.2 billion has been spent on township businesses, while provincial revenue enhancement strategies bagged R32 billion in the year leading up to the 2024 address.

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Lesufi promised 18 new schools as part of the R1.5 billion investment in education and spoke of R22 billion headed for Gauteng as part of multi-sector investment commitments.

Displaying his commitment to the youth, he said his flagship Nasi iSpani programme had attracted more than 36 million views on social media.

Despite these figures, opposition parties point to high unemployment, a stagnant economy and excessive crime stemming purely from broken promises.

No public relations speak

In loose alignment with Lesufi’s ANC through its mayorship of Tshwane, ActionSA said the people of Gauteng needed “real, measurable progress”.

ActionSA Gauteng leader Funzi Ngobeni said Gauteng’s economy should drive South Africa’s growth, but the infrastructure was failing residents where it mattered most.

“Gauteng’s public healthcare system remains in a state of collapse, with chronic staff shortages, failing infrastructure, and severely under-resourced hospitals and clinics,” stated Ngobeni.

“The premier must go beyond announcing investment figures and demonstrate how these commitments are changing lives and creating sustainable economic opportunities,” Ngobeni added.

The central business districts of Pretoria and Johannesburg are high on the party’s list of priorities, with Ngobeni wanting to hear a plan for their revitalisation as well as dealing with hijacked buildings.

“ActionSA urges Lesufi not to use Sopa as a PR [public relations] exercise while residents continue to suffer. Gauteng deserves a government that delivers, not one that simply makes announcements and disappears,” said Ngobeni.

Gauteng unpleasant?

DA Gauteng leader Solly Msimanga stated his belief over that weekend that Lesufi was not up to defeating the province’s challenges.

“As the leader of the government of provincial unity, Lesufi has excelled mainly in arrogance, broken promises, and denialism,” stated Msimanga.

He described the Nasi iSpani, crime warden and special economic zone programmes as failed election ploys, implying Lesufi’s leadership was based on slogans.

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Msimanga detailed a province riddled with crime, crumbling roads, erratic service delivery and plagued by homelessness, addiction and other socio-economic struggles.

These issues had given Gauteng the growing stigma of being an unpleasant place to endure over an extended period of time.

“Holiday spending in Gauteng fell significantly to R7.22 billion, reflecting a sharp drop of 59.2%,” stated Msimanga.

“This is a clear indication that their #VisitGAUTENGZwakala campaign is failing like many of their catchphrases with no impact.

“The issues such as an unstable economy, crime, corruption and crumbling infrastructure severely affect the tourist industry,” Msimanga added.

No time to delay reforms

Build One South Africa’s (Bosa) Ayanda Allie doubled down on the “municipal dysfunction”, urging Lesufi to listen to the warnings from the opposition benches.

“These [issues] are a result of slow but steady decline — mismanagement, corruption, a government that is unwilling to listen and that is unable to maintain what it currently has,” Allie told The Citizen on Monday.

Allie warned that if Lesufi did not act, then Gauteng faces the possibility of losing its status as the economic hub of South Africa and Africa.

Bosa’s lone representative in the Gauteng legislature envisioned a flood of service delivery disasters that would begin from the steady trickle of Lesufi’s inaction.

“This will not be something we just arrive at. It will be as a result of something the premier did not do in 2025, of what the premier lied about in 2025, of what the premier refused to enact in 2025.

“If he refuses to take heed, it will be made manifest years from now, and we will all wake up and think, ‘How did this suddenly happen?’, but it will be a direct result of what was not done by him today,” Allie concluded.

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