ActionSA embarks on legal process to ensure ANC can’t abuse Nasi Ispani to hire election volunteers

12 July 2023          

ActionSA will today embark on a comprehensive legal process to ensure that we prevent Gauteng ANC and Gauteng Premier, Panyaza Lesufi, from abusing the ‘Nasi Ispani’ Provincial Government programme, as part of a program to only hire ANC cadres in the run-up to the 2024 election campaign.

It is becoming very clear to us that Lesufi and the ANC in Gauteng are desperate to make all attempts possible to retain a majority in the province in the upcoming 2024 elections. And therefore, after receiving hundreds of complaints from youth in Gauteng communities whose applications were rejected - we now have reason to believe that the ‘Nasi Ispani’ programme was always intended as a tool to hire ANC cadres to campaign in the 2024 elections.

From Mamelodi to Alexandra to Eldorado Park, ActionSA has heard the cries of thousands of youth who have been let down by the scheme with their applications reportedly dumped and never even being considered.

We simply cannot ignore these cries by our communities, which is why we have embarked on this legal process to compel the Gauteng Government to release the employment documents of all those hired under the ‘Nasi Ispani’ programme.

The first step in the legal process is an application in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) which, according to legislation, the Gauteng Provincial Government must respond to within 30 days, failing which ActionSA will lodge a PAIA appeal. Thereafter we will immediately embark on a court application to have these records disclosed to us.

ActionSA cannot allow state resources to be used as a campaign tool. If the ANC and Lesufi have nothing to hide, then they will have no reason not to disclose these documents to us.

ActionSA has already written to the Chairperson of the Gauteng Legislature’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA), Mr Sochayile Khanyile, to investigate the allegations of irregularities. Khanyile simply referred the matter to the Speaker to investigate, who, to date, has not yet responded to ActionSA’s request for an investigation. ActionSA will not allow the matter to drag on any further which is why we have launched these legal processes.

As a party that believes in economic prosperity and justice for all, ActionSA welcomes any initiative aimed at addressing the crisis of youth unemployment in our province which currently stands at 63.9%.

However, since the start of Lesufi’s ‘Nasi Ispani’ programme, we maintain that it was a cosmetic exercise attempting to show the ANC-led Gauteng Provincial Government at work, when, in fact, it has failed the youth of this province. It cannot be allowed that state resources be used to further party-political ends. All residents of Gauteng should have equal access to job opportunities irrespective of their political affiliation.

ActionSA believes that Gauteng’s unemployment - where more than two million people are unemployed - won’t be solved by gimmick schemes such as ‘Nasi Ispani’, but through creating the environment for private businesses to create jobs.

We simply won’t allow the ANC and Lesufi to fool our people that they are doing something to address the unemployment crisis while they are actually just hiring their own cadres, and we are therefore following all possible channels to demand transparency and accountability.

Issued by Funzi Ngobeni, ActionSA Gauteng Provincial Chairperson, 12 July 2023