Lesufi should cooperate with law enforcement rather than weaponise GP's government against the DA

16 March 2023

The DA in Gauteng notes the hypocrisy of the leader of the ANC-EFF coalition in Gauteng, Premier Panyaza Lesufi, in seeking to use the Gauteng provincial government as an instrument of his own political agenda to undermine DA-governance in the province.

During the fraught Council session earlier this week when the Tshwane Council Speaker was elected, Mr. Lesufi sat in the gallery of the Council chamber while DA councillors were subjected to physical violence at the hands of ANC-EFF councillors, leaving Cllr Shane Maas of the DA with a fracture in his hand (see media here, here, and here). Mr. Lesufi made no objection to this anti-democratic thuggery.

Not a word of objection or condemnation came from Mr. Lesufi when ANC-EFF councillors seized ballots from the hands of DA councillors, leading to the nullification of the first round of voting in the election of the Tshwane Council Speaker.

In his SOPA last month and subsequent remarks, Mr. Lesufi made unapologetically clear his intention to undermine local governments in Gauteng not under ANC-EFF control, yet now has the audacity to seek to portray himself as a champion of democratic processes.

Mr. Lesufi is yet to come clean on what he knows regarding allegations of bribery that saw several ActionSA Tshwane councillors vote with the ANC-EFF coalition. He has a legal and moral duty to cooperate with law enforcement on this matter and would be wise to prioritize this over his latest attempt to weaponise the provincial government of Gauteng against the DA.

The DA in Gauteng will not allow Panyaza Lesufi and his coalition of corruption to gain through political thuggery and sabotage that which the voters of Tshwane have denied them: control of the City of Tshwane and the ability to loot and leech at the trough of the City's finances.

Issued by Solly Msimanga, DA Gauteng Provincial Leader, 16 March 2023