STATEMENT ON THE DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE'S ATTEMPTS AT SOWING DISCORD BETWEEN THE ANC GAUTENG PEC AND THE NEC

29 September 2024

The African National Congress (ANC) in Gauteng has noted with deep concern the malicious attempts by the Democratic Alliance to sow a wedge between the ANC Gauteng Provincial Executive Committee (PEC) and the National Executive Committee (NEC), both of which are duly elected structures of a unitary organisation. On numerous occasions, the Democratic Alliance (DA) has sought to cement a narrative of disunity within the ANC , it has desperately sought to position the ANC Gauteng PEC as a rogue structure that is perpetually contradicting the posture of the NEC.

This dangerous, albeit intentional characterisation is done with the intention to malign the ANC leadership in Gauteng and to single out the ANC Gauteng provincial Chairperson comrade Panyaza Lesufi and the Provincial Secretary comrade Thembinkosi “TK”Nciza as rebels! The DA continues to throttle our comrades in the Western Cape legislature, in the city of Cape Town and other municipalities and yet no single ANC leader has labelled them as working against the GNU even when they treat the colored, Indian and black Communities in the Western Cape as second class citizens of our country!

We also call upon the leadership of the DA to reveal the names of the local and national leaders it meets Nicodemously outside the leadership of the ANC in Gauteng as we are certain that such is plain illusionary. It is quite clear that the DA is convinced that the ANC is in a grand coalition with them as a party . We wish to reiterate that the GNU is an open invitation to all parties that wish to contribute towards the creation of non-racist, none sexist, democratic and d prosperous South Africa . DA that has alienated itself from its own historical allies rather than any commissions or commissions of the ANC in Gauteng.

On the 26th of September 2024, the DA's Cilliers Brink was democratically removed as the executive mayor of the City of Tshwane through a motion of no confidence that was tabled by the ANC in the municipality's council. The basis for this motion is the ongoing deterioration of service delivery in the administrative capital, as well as incompetent governance that has seen a municipality that was once stable reduced to a shadow of its former self. Recently, the Auditor General of South Africa (AGSA) published audit outcomes for the country's provincial and local governments.

The City of Tshwane received a qualified audit outcome for the 2023/2024 financial year. This is a negative result, and while it is an improvement from the adverse findings in the 2022/2023 financial year wherein the city under the DA falsified its financials to the AG, it is a demonstration of the long-standing precarity of the municipality's finances. This, among other things, informed the no-confidence motion that received overwhelming support.

To be specific, the motion passed by 120 votes, with 87 against and one abstention. This illustrates the overwhelming dissatisfaction that the municipality's council had in the DA-led multi-party administration across the party line. Rather than use this as a basis for reflection, particularly as some of those who supported this motion include its historical allies, the DA has sought to deflect attention from its failures by claiming that division within structures of the ANC is to blame.

It must be stated, on record, that there is no division within any structures of the ANC in so far as our approach to governments of unity. The ANC is a unitary organisation that has a long-standing tradition of democratic centralism. The ANC position on governments of unity is that these formations are voluntary and reflect the aspirations of South African voters. Across the country, there are governments of local unity (GLUs) and governments of provincial unity (GPUs) that are fully functional.

They owe their stability to a common agreement and perspective on how to govern and what to prioritise. This is the same situation with the government of national unity (GNU), which the ANC is deeply committed to. But from the onset, the ANC has taken the position that no party will unilaterally dictate terms within these formations - something that the DA in Gauteng in particular has consistently disregarded.

Furthermore, the ANC position is that the door is open to any party that wants to be part of the GNU. This is the same posture that the ANC in Gauteng has maintained. Parties that wanted to be part of the GNU and that had honourable intentions in this regard, are in the GNU and contribute meaningfully in the Gauteng Provincial Government. The DA's exclusion from the GNU has nothing to do with defiance on the ANC PEC's part, but with its own propensity for employing bullying tactics in engagements with other parties.

The ANC in Gauteng remains committed to the vision and mission of the Congress Movement, at the centre of which is ensuring a better life for all. This is only possible through good governance and ethical leadership that is dedicated to service delivery, particularly in historically disadvantaged communities where those on the margins reside.

The ANC Gauteng PEC enjoys the confidence of the national leadership and of branches of the organisation in the province. Branches are the basic unit of the ANC whose collective decision to give the PEC a mandate to lead the organisation in the Gauteng province was an outcome of an appreciation of ANC and Congress Movement literature, the political economy of the continent and the constitutional landscape of South Africa.

To accept the DA's narrative of a rogue ANC Gauteng PEC is to disregard the exhaustive processes that inform the election of structures in the ANC, which commence with general councils wherein difficult discussions are had. It is also to engage in the rejection of healthy debate, which is fundamental to the ANC but is seemingly frowned upon in other organisations that arrogate individuals absolute power.

The people of Gauteng must have no doubt in their minds that the ANC in the province remains committed to making the GPU work. With the honest, hardworking and visionary partners forming part of this GPU, we have no doubt that we will achieve the key priorities that we have set for the province's 7th administration, at the centre of which is the reduction of unemployment, alleviation of poverty and inequality, and the growing and strengthening of the provincial economy.

We are thankful for the support of the ANC NEC and the political parties who are working hard to give legitimacy to the value of unity governments while some seek to undermine them.

Issued by the ANC Gauteng Provincial Secretary Comrade Thembinkosi “TK” Nciza, 29 September 2024