Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi says he is confident the governing African National Congress (ANC) will retain the province with an outright majority in the 2024 national and provincial elections.
Lesufi, who is also the chairperson of the ANC in Gauteng, said they were going for an outright majority win in the province, despite most election observers expecting the ANC to poll below 50% in the country’s sixth national poll since 1994.
“We are entering a crucial stage where we will defend the ANC in our province. Our message is clear, we want to win Gauteng without any factional partners or coalition. We will win Gauteng alone and govern it alone,” he said.
This is despite their performance in the 2019 general elections where they won the province by just 53.59% votes.
Lesufi addressed the Provincial Executive Committee (PEC) Lekgotla at the Birchwood Conference Centre in Boksburg, Gauteng on Monday.
The meeting is aimed at mapping out a programme of action for the year ahead and critically deliberate on the election strategy.
He said some of the political parties that claimed to be hands-on in the local government were inexperienced, exposing themselves that they were not there to serve the interests of the people.
“They have exposed themselves that they can't be trusted to run the government,” he said.
This is as the fallout in Ekurhuleni between ANC and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) keeps widening.
The ANC in Gauteng is in a multiparty coalition government in metros including the City of Johannesburg, Mogale City and Ekurhuleni.
During interactions with the media, Lesufi mentioned that the practice of cadre deployment was misunderstood. Cadre deployment is defined as giving jobs to people loyal to a party, without having the skills or capability.
Lesufi defined cadre deployment as the hiring of highly qualified, competent, committed, and ready to serve people, to ensure that the work given was executed and completed.
He also defended and again dismissed allegations that the Nasi Ispani recruitment initiative was not an electioneering campaign but a project to tackle poverty in the province.
He slammed political parties who serve in the legislature for going to the media on the matter, instead of engaging them in the house.
“All these political parties they serve in the legislature, they know about these jobs. They can hold us accountable if we are using these jobs for electioneering. They are not doing that. What is the short-cut? It is to go on a public platform and insult these programmes,” he said.
kamogelo.moichela@inl.co.za
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