The ANC in Gauteng is banking on its unofficial cooperation with the EFF and MK Party to protect Premier Panyaza Lesufi from any attempts by the DA to remove him.
This is according to ANC Gauteng provincial secretary Thembinkosi “TK” Nciza, who was speaking to Sunday World Engage in a wide-ranging interview this week.
Nciza was quizzed about how safe Lesufi was after the ANC in the province went into what they now call “government of provincial unity with Gauteng characteristics” because it
excludes the DA.
The ANC in the province is governing with the help of MKP and EFF, who are
informal partners to stop the DA, whose attempts to be part of the government failed when negotiations collapsed.
So far, thanks to the EFF and MKP’s help, Lesufi’s government has managed to pass the budget for the provincial government.
Nciza said that Lesufi was standing on solid ground and any wishful thinking to sponsor a motion of no-confidence against him would fall flat.
“Our engagements with these two parties are based on what should happen in government. Must we engage them? Of course,” said Nciza.
“So, as we speak, outside of MKP and the EFF, our numbers are very close, it would be very difficult to remove the premier. I’m not saying it can’t be done if they all agree. I’m
saying it would be difficult because you need 40 seats and all these other parties that we’re working with gave us 48 seats, they put us close to a comfortable position.”
Nciza said the ANC Gauteng was not going to be bullied or shamed for its working relationship with MKP and EFF.
As far as they are concerned, the three parties serve mainly the same constituency – the poor, and thus working together makes sense.
It was this argument, said Nciza, that won EFF in the first place to move away from the DA and work with ANC at local government, way before the catastrophic May 29 elections.
And those planting a narrative of the secret deal the ANC might have with EFF and MKP in Gauteng must hang their heads in shame, he added.
In any event, Nciza asserted, there was no difference between the working relationship ANC Gauteng has with the GNU at national level, which is based on signed documents that are “not legally binding”.
“First, agree with me that there are no stable coalitions. Even if you have a written document, a party can tomorrow wake up and vote against you. Because even the DA can tomorrow decide they’re not working with the ANC nationally. So, there’s nothing that binds them. It’s not a legal document.
“So, we must stop acting as if there’s a party that’s better than the other. And I’m saying this because of the little experience we have in coalitions.”
Nciza insisted that any partnership government where no party has an outright
majority needs to be centred on people’s interests.
With this argument, they have long won over the EFF despite there being no formal agreement between the two parties at municipalities.
For ANC Gauteng, the strategy is to employ the same tactics and talk to MKP and EFF continuously. “But we will continually be engaging people and making them see the bigger picture, which is servicing our people. And the important thing is, at least when you
differ, it must make sense,”
said Nciza.
“You must say ‘we are differing because here are the issues’ and we have made it clear even to them, that we’re not here to satisfy your egos but we’re engaging you so that we are able to keep this province together.”
