Panyaza Lesufi Named Gauteng Premier for 2nd Time, Promises To Make Province Attractive Again
Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi, touted to be re-elected as the head of the provincial government, duly emerged as the incumbent for a second term unopposed on Friday, 14 June 2024. Briefly News covered the Special House Sitting of the Gauteng Legislature in Johannesburg.
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JOHANNESBURG — Panyaza Lesufi has been re-elected to the Gauteng Premiership and will lead the province for another five years in the seventh administration.
Lesufi was elected during a special sitting in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature on Friday, following the hotly contested May national and provincial elections.
Gauteng Judge President Dunstan Mlambo swore in the new leadership, who took their oaths of office in the presence of 11 political parties, including the Democratic Alliance (DA), Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and the MK Party.
Gauteng leadership nominated and sworn in
Along with Lesufi — the former Gauteng MEC for Education — Morakane Mosupyoe, the Gauteng MEC for Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture, was elected as the Speaker after her nomination by ANC MPL Ntombi Megwe, seconded by the MK Party, went uncontested.
Eighty members of the Provincial Legislature, the Chairperson of Committees, and other presiding officers were sworn in, and National Council of Provinces (NCOP) delegates were designated.
In his speech after going unopposed, Lesufi, whose appointment the DA seconded, said he accepted the position with deep humility.
Forging working relations for the greater good
He said the provincial government needed to move urgently to address the province's challenges.
“We need to move faster to be ahead of everyone. To the people of our province, we accept your choices to compel all of us as political parties to work together.
“We accept the decision taken for each and every political party to be part of governing our beautiful province. I, hereby, call on all parties that want to be part of the government of provincial unity to start preparing for this task.
“We’ve been tasked to work together… work together we will do.”
In his impassioned speech, Lesufi said the task would be to build a better Gauteng, combining ideas from all parties to make the province more attractive.
DA MPL Michael Sun, speaking to Briefly News, emphasised the importance of forging good working relations to take the country's biggest economy forward.
He said having a Government of National Unity presented "an exciting time" in political governance.
"This is unchartered territory for all of us. We need to find each other. MPLs need to work even harder than ever to service the residents. Personally, I am indebted to our voters, supporters and activists for putting us where we are today to ensure we carry on for the next five years."
He said parties should never take the voters' wishes for granted and should be mature about politics and, more importantly, service delivery.
"The nation deserves to see changes for the better and we cannot go back to a place where we see, for example, delapidated buildings."
Musopyoe accepted her election, albeit describing the outcome as surprising, and thanked Mlambo for presiding over the process.
Rousing response to Lesufi's re-election
Aside from the excitement accompanied by songs that broke out when Mlambo announced Lesufi's retention of the premiership after going unopposed, social media was abuzz.
Many, including former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela, shared positive messages and offered their congratulations.
@ThuliMadonsela3 said:
"Congratulations to Premier Lesufi for being elected for a second term as the Premier of Gauteng. Best wishes as you continue and scale the process of parity-rooted economic inclusion and growth while improving all citizens' lives and unleashing all persons' potential."
@lorrenzom offered:
"Congratulations, Lefusi. Keep the ball rolling."
Disdain and disappointment
Others, however, were not so optimistic and openly shared their disappointment over the outcome.
@SimplyMegszcpt commented:
"Is corruption going to continue, or can you start prioritising the people's needs over your huge ego?"
@LouisChanguion mentioned:
"Here we go again. Empty promises survived. Unless controlled by the GNU partners, we will just see a continuation of the pre-election era."
Alan Winde re-elected Western Cape Premier for 2nd term
In related news, Briefly News reported recently that DA MPL Alan Winde is again the Western Cape Premier.
His party's performance in the regional vote in the general elections ensured the DA cruised to victory to retain governance of South Africa's third-biggest provincial economy.
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Source: Briefly News
