ANC Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi has established a tenuous minority government after failed negotiations with the Democratic Alliance (DA). Lesufi was hesitant to allocate significant power to the DA, leading to a breakdown in talks. Opposition parties received minor portfolios, highlighting the power imbalance. The DA, now in opposition, vows to rigorously scrutinize the provincial government. Lesufi’s coalition remains precarious, relying on the absence of unified opposition votes.

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By John Matisonn

ANC Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi has formed a fragile, minority provincial government after talks with the Democratic Alliance broke down on Wednesday.  ___STEADY_PAYWALL___

The bride withdrew hours before the walk down the aisle, though on reflection a better analogy might be from the labour courts – it looked more like a case of constructive dismissal. Lesufi appeared reluctant to give the DA meaningful power or to take DA leaders into his confidence at all. 

Both parties blamed each other for negotiating in bad faith, but a glance at the three portfolios Lesufi shed to opposition parties in the end suggests he was never enthusiastic about making it work.

To list the opposition’s new portfolios is to explain the power relationship: in Gauteng, South Africa’s most urban, industrial province with the highest population density in the country, he gave one opposition member agriculture (Vuyiswa Ramokgopa of Rise Mzansi) and another the environment MEC (Sheila Mary Peters of the Patriotic Alliance).

The last of the three opposition MEC positions went to Bonginkosi Dlamini of the Inkatha Freedom Party, as MEC for egovernment, a portfolio he created by splitting it off from finance. 

The combined budget of the three likely covers less than five percent of the province’s expenditure. Of the province’s 15 residents, 13 million live in its three biggest cities – Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ehurhuleni – and there are six other urbanized municipalities.

The DA announced its decision to withdraw on Wednesday afternoon, after Lesufi refused to say what portfolios he would give to the three DA MPLs he was willing to accept, or what other opposition parties would join them.

This was less collegial than the national negotiations. Though the DA was not completely happy that it was fully informed during the national talks, they were materially better, since President Cyril Ramaphosa did discuss specific portfolios with DA leader John Steenhuisen in order to reach agreement. A final clincher was the president’s agreement to swop tourism, which the DA regarded as less significant, for agriculture.

The DA was not told the ultimate size of the national cabinet, which it assumed would be smaller, but it considered the level of cooperation in the talks and the quality of the portfolios significant enough to roll up their sleeves.

For Lesufi’s minority government, the arithmetic is telling. In the 80-seat Gauteng provincial legislature, the political parties in government hold only 32 seats, nine short of an outright majority.

It excludes the DA, which holds 22 seats in the legislature, the EFF (11 seats), Mkhonto Wesizwe (eight), ActionSA (three), Freedom Front Plus (two) and Build One SA and the African Christian Democratic Party (one each). The ANC has 28 seats, its executive partners the PA two and Rise Mzanzi and the IFP one each.

DA Gauteng leader Solly Msimanga said his party will take up its familiar role as an opposition.

“The Democratic Alliance has a long history of being a strong and unforgivingly thorough opposition,” he said. “We are both comfortable and proud to enter back into the opposition benches from where we will serve the people of Gauteng.”

While the DA had supported Lesufi and an ANC speaker, and a DA member was elected deputy speaker, Msimanga said she would resign soon, setting the stage for combative provincial council sessions.

The provincial government can only survive as long as the DA does not vote against it alongside a combination that would probably include the EFF and MKP. 

Announcing his cabinet, Lesufi spoke eloquently about his plans for an open, accountable and effective government to restore what he admitted were failing cities, rampant crime and corruption in his province. 

“We accept, without conditions, the outcomes of our elections and the desires of our electorate that all political parties must work together to run our provincial government,” he said.

“Hardline stances must be avoided. Openness, transparency, compromise, and communication should be the hallmark of our administration.

“Our mandate is simple: crime, corruption, and lawlessness must be crushed mercilessly. Municipalities must play their part so that we can support them.”

Underlying their fallout over cabinet representation was an atmosphere in the talks that left the DA suspicious. Msimanga wondered if there was an undisclosed agreement between the ANC and the EFF and MKP to keep the new government in office. 

Lesufi has negotiated coalitions with the EFF in Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni

“Beyond the problematic nature of an attitude that seemingly does not understand what their significant loss of the vote share in Gauteng entails, an air of refusal to be partners, which ultimately is the goal, dominated conversations,” Msimanga said.

“We will not be functionaries who rubber stamp decisions made by an executive that evidently is intent on keeping us on the edge of the fray. If both parties were negotiating in good faith, the situation might have been different now.”

This is the full Gauteng cabinet:

MEC for e-Government – Bonginkosi Dlamini (IFP)

MEC for Finance and Economic Development – Lebogang Maile (ANC)

MEC for Education, Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation – Matome Chiloane (ANC)

MEC for Health and Wellness – Nomantu Nkomo Ralehoko (ANC)

MEC for Roads and Transport – Kedibone Diale-Tlabela (ANC)

MEC for Human Settlements – Tasneem Motara (ANC)

MEC for Agriculture and Rural Development – Vuyiswa Ramokgopa (Rise Mzansi)

MEC for Infrastructure Development and Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs – Jacob Mamabolo (ANC)

MEC for Environment – Sheila Mary Peters (PA)