Daily Maverick
Dailymaverick logo

Maverick News

This article is more than a year old

Maverick News

Gauteng ANC defends Premier Lesufi saying party leaders who have run out of ideas must quit

The Gauteng African National Congress (ANC) has defended utterances made by its leader and Premier Panyaza Lesufi on the eve of the 55th national conference.
Gauteng ANC defends Premier Lesufi saying party leaders who have run out of ideas must quit
Chris Makhaye
By Chris Makhaye
17 Dec 2022
Facebook
5

Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi has accused some ANC leaders of having run out of ideas, saying they must resign before they are pushed — because they led a deeply divided ANC and failed to deliver for the people of South Africa.

Ahead of Lesufi’s blistering speech, Gauteng was believed to be firmly behind the campaign to elect President Cyril Ramaphosa for the second term.

Former Health Minister Zweli Mkhize is challenging Ramaphosa for the position of ANC president. The pair could be joined on the ballot paper by anyone whose name is raised from the conference floor.

“There are certain leaders... they have run out of ideas. It’s better they leave before we push them… we must not allow the 55th national conference in Nasrec to divide us.

“As Gauteng, we are not going to choose any slate, we are not going to choose any individual, we are only going to be on the side of the ANC,” Lesufi was quoted as saying.

Questions


After Lesufi’s speech, many have questioned where his province — which has the fourth-largest voting block after KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and Eastern Cape — stands in the jostling for positions in the ruling party.

Gauteng is one of the provinces on a knife edge and could fall into an opposition coalition in the 2024 general elections.

Daily Maverick caught up with TK Nciza, the Gauteng ANC provincial secretary, at the conference registration centre, where he emphatically defended Lesufi, saying the latter had merely expressed the position of the province, which is not supporting any of the contending factions in the conference. He said they are concerned about leaders who are facing a number of allegations, including Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala issue.

“Our chairperson never spoke on his behalf… he spoke on behalf of the provincial executive council (PEC) of Gauteng. He did not say anything wrong. Generally, Gauteng has to be honest in its politics. It doesn’t necessarily start today.

“We are expected to say things that must favour certain candidates and not the other. My chairperson was speaking about ANC politics, the national democratic revolution, people’s power, those are the things he was talking about… that we must not have an organisation that is captured by capital. And we are very strong on that as this collective of the PEC,” he said.

Party unity


Nciza added that his province would do everything in its power to facilitate a conference that would see the emergence of a united and strong ruling party.

“We want to get out of this conference with a united ANC. We came here knowing what must be our role as the province. Anything that seeks to divide the ANC will have a very negative impact in our province. That is why we came without choosing a side.

“We came here to engage, not to endorse a particular slate,” he said.

Nciza added that his province will engage with other provinces and regions until “we enter the doorstep of the (voting venue of the) conference.” DM

Comments (3)

virginia crawford Dec 19, 2022, 06:24 AM

'we are only going to be on the side of the ANC,' This is why we are such crisis because it is always the party before the country. ANC leaders run out of integrity long before they run out of ideas to loot and lie. Lesufi talks about pushing people out: like who?

Johannes Nel Dec 18, 2022, 06:08 AM

Lesufi should be the first to resign.

Michael Clark Dec 18, 2022, 10:07 AM

I so love being lectured a man who "lost" R431 million "disinfecting" shools in his care unnessasarly giving contracts to "BEE" start ups and whatsapps applications. Never a cent recovered and no one fired. My guess everyone took the cash and all gave lootfreely house a 20% (-+) kickback then headed for the nearest luxury car dealership. Hawks found Lesufi not guilty. Funny that.

Cunningham Ngcukana Dec 17, 2022, 05:14 PM

The two fellows are said to have no control of Gauteng delegates something that is said left with Mashatile who fought Zuma throughout his tenure. The two are very much uncertain about where their delegates stand. However, you cannot expect the Chairperson of a Province that is the centre of national politics to be mealy mouthed on issues and speak about leadership only but not policy and service delivery. There was nothing to defend as he was frank in the assessment of the ANC leadership. In doing so, he was arming his delegates not to be voting cattle but to think deeply about the leadership. The timing can be challenged but it was the PGC before conference in preparation for the conference. The article is insinuating that Lesufi did something wrong but in fact has done what all the Provincial leaders ought to have done. He does not have to massage the truth when it comes to the performance of the ANC leadership. Only fools like Zamani Saul who attend Conferences to elect certain people and on the way with his tickey legal degree attack an eminent judge appointed by parliament which I found very derogatory and raises questions about his own leadership. Phala Phala will not go away because legal plumbers and voting cattle attack the report. The questions that Ramaphosa has to answer remain. Lesufi like all of us cannot be stopped because of the Conference to ask for answers.

Hermann Funk Dec 18, 2022, 08:31 AM

You have a very one-sided view on what is right or wrong. Phala Phala will not go away, neither will be Digital Vibes. The brain dead ANC members speak about unification, national democratic revolution and other stupid slogans, instead of realising that the party is in decay. It already smells like a rotting corpse that it is.