It is time to turn out the lights of the ANC government in Gauteng for good in the 2024 elections

23 February 2023

Time is up for the ANC government as it is time to turn out the lights of this party in Gauteng in the 2024 elections.

For years, the provincial ANC government stood by and looked on as Eskom gradually imploded, but did nothing to create alternative power sources for Gauteng.

Lesufi's power plans are too little, too late – and were only announced with a view to the 2024 elections.

It is no secret that Gauteng residents are very unhappy with the ANC due to the gruelling load shedding schedules destroying lives and the province.

The ANC's constant complaining about the past, while it has been in power for nearly 30 years, is totally irrelevant.

The people of Gauteng want a better future and that is why they will leave the ANC behind in the 2024 elections and move forward into the future with a new coalition government, of which the FF Plus will be part.

Lesufi's most important focus areas for Gauteng should have been economic development and growth.

Instead, the Premier focused strongly on unnecessary frills, like closed circuit television with facial recognition software, using drones and rolling out panic buttons to combat crime.

The FF Plus pointed out that all this technology will mean nothing if the police force and Department of Justice do not perform their most basic functions properly.

That is the main reason why offenders are not arrested and successfully prosecuted.

The FF Plus is also concerned about how these monitoring instruments will violate ordinary citizens' right to privacy.

The active type of monitoring that is being planned will be extensive and basically take place everywhere.

So, the FF Plus asked the Premier to first test the constitutionality of his intended plans.

Crime will be combated much more effectively if the police and Department of Justice simply perform their tasks well. That should be the Premier's primary focus.

The Premier, furthermore, focused solely on the economic development of townships to the exclusion of the rest of the province's economic needs.

It is a recipe that will simply slice the province's economic cake even thinner. Townships can only develop sustainably if the rest of Gauteng's economy works and grows.

The FF Plus is also concerned about how the scrapping of e-toll is being handled. The provincial government will take on 30% of the e-toll debt and the responsibility of maintaining the SANRAL highways in the province.

The Premier gave no indication of where the funds will come from.

It is extremely alarming and it appears as if the e-toll costs will simply make their way back to the people of the province, albeit not in the form of SANRAL bills.

Lastly, the FF Plus was glad to hear that more funds will be made available for building schools in high-pressure areas.

It was pointed out to the Premier that he must not be too quick to classify any conflict between black and white learners in schools as racial conflict.

In most cases, the source of the conflict is the usual clashes between learners because they are still immature, or political parties with an agenda.

The FF Plus will soon announce the steps it intends to take regarding an incident that the Premier wrongfully labelled as racist.

Ultimately, the FF Plus views Premier Lesufi's plans as no more than icing on a rotten ANC-cake.

It is time to turn out the lights of the ANC government in Gauteng for good in 2024.

Issued by Anton Alberts, FF Plus national chairperson and MPL: Gauteng, 23 February 2023