There’s an impasse between the ANC and the DA regarding the number of portfolios that must be allocated to parties which are members of the Government of Provincial Unity in Gauteng.
One political expert who spoke to Tshwane Talks on condition of anonymity said according to the agreement at national level between the ANC and the DA, portfolio positions must be allocated in proportion to the percentage of votes that have been garnered by each party during the provincial elections and according to his calculations the DA must get at least get three portfolio positions.
In the Gauteng Provincial Legislature elections, the ANC won 34,76% of the votes while the DA won 27,44%.
According to sources, Premier Panyaza Lesufi had already planned to announce the Gauteng Legislature Provincial MECs without including members of other parties as an agreement hadn’t been reached in this regard.
But his intentions were reportedly stopped by President Cyril Ramaphosa, who apparently ordered Lesufi to include members of other parties in his team of MECs.
“Yes, we have an impasse, but we are dealing with it,” said DA leader in Gauteng Solly Msimanga when asked to respond to the apparent breakdown in talks between his party and the ANC in Gauteng.
Referring to the ANC’s reluctance to offer the DA and other parties more portfolios, Msimanga said:
“They just don’t want to share power, they still believe they can call all the shots,” he said.
Regarding specific MEC portfolios that the DA is demanding, Msimanga said:
“We are not there yet; we are still grappling with the number of portfolios that must be allocated to members of the provincial government of unity.”
At the time of publishing this story the ANC in Gauteng had not yet responded to queries from Tshwane Talks regarding this matter.