David Makhura resigns as Gauteng premier

David Makhura has resigned from the position of the Premier of Gauteng and a member of Gauteng Provincial Legislature, effective from 6 October 2022.

In a statement, Makhura said he handed in the letter to Gauteng legislature speaker Ntombi Mekgwe on Tuesday.

Makhura is expected to hand over the reigns to newly elected Gauteng chairperson Panyaza Lesufi on Thursday, when members of the provincial legislature will sit to elect a new premier.

Earlier this year, Makhura informed the ANC at the Cadres Assembly attended by branch chairs and secretaries of his intentions to not stand for a leadership position of the ANC in Gauteng, after serving the province for 22 years.

He was elected the 6th Premier of Gauteng in May 2014, and re-elected in May 2019.

“I have served the people of Gauteng with humility, and outmost dedication and integrity through the 8 years of my tenure,” said Makhura.

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While there had been media reports that Makhura was forced to step down after ANC Gauteng’s 14th provincial conference in June, the premier denied that he was being pushed out from power.

Makhura said he had always expressed his desire to hand over the reins to a new premier even though he was only left with two years before his second term ended.

But the move has been criticised by the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) in Gauteng.

It said the ANC in the province was embarking on a “political suicide mission”.

Cosatu said the decision on Makhura’s exit from office by the new PEC was “inward-looking” and followed “the same old trajectory of obsessing over palace politics while the working class is bleeding”.

“There are no signs that the newly elected leadership has understood nor managed to decode the message of the last couple of elections outcomes.

“The people of the province have been crying for a people-centred governance model that is focused on resolving their problems, yet they are still waking up to headlines about leaders jostling for positions,” Cosatu said in a statement.

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Additional reporting by Thapelo Lekabe