Gauteng premier, Panyaza Lesufi. [Picture: via Polity]
Panyaza Lesufi will not be removed from his position as premier of Gauteng. African National Congress (ANC) secretary-general, Fikile Mbalula, confirmed as much on Monday.
Mbalula emphasised that while the ANC intends to reorganize its provincial leadership in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, the restructuring will not affect government operations.
“We are very clear that the government will not be tampered with; it will remain the way it is. That is the directive of the NEC,” said Mbalula during a media briefing in Boksburg, near Johannesburg.
The decision follows the ANC’s poor performance in the 2024 general election, when the party experienced significant vote share losses.
“Reconfiguration, that is what we need to do. The buzzword is dissolution or reinforcement; overall, it is a combination of the two and choosing the path of uniting the organisation,” Mbalula added.
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Strengthening leadership
Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri, spokesperson for the ANC, said the move was a step towards the party’s renewal.
“The state of organisation in the two provinces has been deemed, both by the national working committee and the NEC, as provinces that require an urgent intervention to strengthen the organisation, to strengthen the political leadership and the political strategy,” she told Newzroom Afrika.
She further stressed the importance of these provinces to the party’s future electoral prospects, saying, “We are rebuilding to reclaim what belongs to the African National Congress and that is going to require that we have a leadership that is suited for that purpose”.
While the ANC frames the restructuring as part of its renewal project, political analysts suggest the move may be driven by internal factional battles.
“This move is unlikely to have been based on the actual electoral performance of the ANC in the elections of May 2024. This is a factional battle,” said analyst Sandile Swana in an interview with SABC News.
Swana pointed out that the ANC’s decline began in 2009, when it lost its two-thirds majority in Parliament.
“By now, the horse has long bolted,” he said. “They’ve allowed this thing to continue declining since 2009. Why now? What is the difference now? And why choose these provinces?”
