The political project known as the Gauteng Government of Provincial Unity will live to fight another day. The immediate threat passed on Friday when ANC Premier Panyaza Lesufi comfortably survived a motion of no confidence tabled by the DA.
The attempt to remove him over the scandal of the “Amapanyaza” crime wardens was always a long shot. And it failed spectacularly. The final tally was 54 against the motion, 24 in favour, and one abstention.
But the more telling question, the one that defines the future of South Africa’s economic heartland, is this: What does this failure reveal about the strength of the Premier and the fundamental weakness of his opponents?
The answer appears to be that Lesufi is politically stronger than he was last week. Not because of his own impeccable leadership, but because the opposition is in a state of disarray. It is trapped by its own past decisions and present grudges.
Amapanyaza, Tembisa hospital scandal
The DA’s motion was built on two pillars: the Public Protector’s finding that Lesufi had established an “unlawful policing structure” through the now-notorious Gauteng crime wardens, the “Amapanyaza”, and allegations of mishandling the Tembisa Hospital tender corruption case. On paper, it was a straightforward case of accountability.
The collapse of the motion was not so much an endorsement of Lesufi. It was but a damning indictment of the DA’s ability to build a coalition. The political calculus was simple, and for the DA, brutally unforgiving.
They could not convince, coerce, or charm any other significant party to join their cause. Instead, the vote became a stage for a series of public reckonings and political vendettas.
The EFF made their price clear: a public apology from the DA for previously labelling them “enemy number one” and “dangerous demagogues”. The DA did not pay. The EFF did not support it.
More painfully for the DA, its former coalition partner in the national government, ActionSA, delivered a lesson in political irony. Funzi Ngobeni, the party’s Gauteng leader, confirmed they received the DA’s letter seeking support.
His response was to frame the motion as an act of hypocrisy.
DA trying to clean up a mess it helped create
“It must also be said that many of the shortcomings highlighted by the DA… could have been avoided had the DA not supported Mr Lesufi’s nomination as premier in June 2024,” Ngobeni said.
He added that the DA should first “apologise to Gauteng residents for its historic misjudgement” before seeking the moral authority to correct it.
This sentiment — that the DA was trying to clean up a mess it helped create — echoed through the chamber. The uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party was even more blunt, ruling out any association with the DA on principle.
MK Party spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela stated: “The MK Party will not touch, associate with, or support anything that has got to do with the DA and its political posture… The DA does not stand for our people.”
Even the Freedom Front Plus, a natural ideological ally, refused to back the motion and abstained.
This left the DA isolated, its motion supported only by its own members. The scene that followed the vote’s announcement was telling: ANC members broke into celebratory songs. Not just for a victory, but for an opposition that had so thoroughly defeated itself.
The ANC’s Lesego Makhubele accused the DA of trying to “destabilise government” and called the motion “frivolous”.
