Flamboyant Panyaza Lesufi retained his position as Gauteng Premier on Friday.
This after being endorsed by the majority of the parties gathered at the Gauteng Legislature for the purpose of electing Gauteng’s first citizen.
Lesufi became Premier of the province that is regarded as the economic hub of South Africa in October 2022, this after the then incumbent Premier David Makhura resigned his post.
Like in some provinces in the country regarding the results of the elections, the ANC performed dismally in Gauteng under the leadership of Lesufi as it only managed to get around 30% of the votes cast by the inhabitants of the province.
Former City of Tshwane Metro Council Speaker and also former MEC for Arts, Sports and Culture Morakane Mosupye was elected as the Speaker of the Gauteng Provincial Legislsture.
In his acceptance speech for the Premier’s position, the loquacious Lesufi said the following:
“We have been asked to work together, to work together we will do.”
He continued as follows: “We have been asked to combine our ideas together for a better Gauteng, to combine our ideas we will do.” Lesufi further said:
“We have been asked to leave no one behind, and today we can declare that no one will be left behind.”
Lesufi said his mandate is simple and entails that the time of crime and lawlessness is over in Gauteng.
“Our mandate is simple: municipalities play your part, we will play ours,” he said.
“The people of Gauteng have spoken, and we have heard them,” said Lesufi.
He managed to retain his position after parties like the DA, VF Plus, Patriotic Alliance, NFP and IFP voted for him as part of an agreement between these parties and the ANC to form what is called a Government of Provincial Unity.
The selfsame agreement between the parties in Gauteng was used in KwaZulu Natal to elect Thami Ntuli of the IFP as the province’s Premier with the DA’s Mmabatho Tembe being elected as the province’s Legislative Speaker.
This scenario has led to the NFP Secretary General Canon Mdletshe announcing his resignation from the party and labelling the support given by his party to the Government of Provincial Unity in KwaZulu Natal as a “sell-out” decision.
He emphasised that the idea behind the formation of the Government of Provincial Unity was merely a ploy to bring the ANC back into power via the backdoor.