By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The African National Congress (ANC) Gauteng provincial chairperson Panyaza Lesufi has been elected the next premier of the province.
Lesufi was elected on Thursday, during a special sitting of the Gauteng provincial legislature.
Lesufi defeated DA candidate Solly Msimanga by 16 votes. He received 38 of the 60 votes that were cast while Msimanga got 22.
The EFF did not participate in the vote.
Addressing the Legislature for the first time as Premier, Lesufi said his appointment was nothing to celebrate, “but a reminder that you must serve with integrity, humility and dignity”.
He said: “As long as our townships are still the way they are, our freedom has not arrived. As long as we still have informal settlements, we have not accomplished our tasks.
“As long as we still have dirty and smelly hostels, we have not achieved our goals.
“As long as our people in rural areas are struggling to get water, then our mission for a better free South Africa must continue”.
Until such realities were eliminated, he said the province should double efforts of achieving economic growth.
He called on Members of the Legislature (MPLs) to always forever remain sensitive to the imperatives of the Constitution and to “conduct ourselves with probity and always act in the best interest of the people of this province”.
Lesufi said: “I refuse to accept that all of us came here to elect one person to be the premier of our province. What we have done was the election of 16 million people of Gauteng to be the premier, not me.
“It takes all of us to pick ourselves up. Our citizens are confronted with many challenges, but you must remain firm to defend, shield, but most importantly, serve them”.
His election, he said, was an opportunity to acknowledge and appreciate the vote of confidence bestowed on Gauteng MPLs to lead the province.
“I want to take this opportunity to affirm one thing that I’m just a last servant that must conclude the last part of our administration that was led by our dynamic former Premier, David Makhura,” he said.
Paying tribute to the outgoing premier, Lesufi hailed Makhura for successfully leading the province as premier for the past eight years, describing him as “one of the humblest servants” and a “hard act to follow”.
“Growing Gauteng Together remains a blueprint that we must continue to implement, even beyond the era of comrade Makhura. This blueprint was not a Makhura blueprint; it was our blueprint and we are proud to take it forward,” said the Premier.
“It is a blueprint that wants a growing province. It’s a blueprint that wants a Gauteng that should be better by 2030. One that wants to encourage growth in terms of the economy, jobs and infrastructure. It is one that encourages a skills revolution in education and health.
His election comes as a result of the resignation of Makhura who has been at the helm of the province since 2014.
Makhura was elected in 2014, and for a second term in 2019.
The ANC in Gauteng began discussions on Makhura’s exit from office following the party’s 14th provincial conference in June, that saw Lesufi elected as the ANC chairperson in the province.
Gauteng deputy judge president Aubrey Ledwaba presided over the election of the new premier and voting was done via secret ballot.
Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) Minister, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma has congratulated Lesufi, on his election.
Dlamini Zuma said: “After eight years of dedication, selfless leadership and commitment to the development of our communities, Makhura decided to hand over the baton to the new leadership.
“This bold and courageous move by the former Premier will go a long way in ensuring continued service delivery to our people. This well-executed handover of power to the new leadership is exemplary and should inspire and propel our democracy going forward.”
She said the new leadership under Premier Lesufi “will surely be able to continue the good work done in this province under the stewardship of the former premier”.
“We need to ensure improved governance, oversight, accountability and institutional stability towards effective and efficient functioning municipalities across the province which meet the aspirations of the population we serve.
“We wish Premier Lesufi well in his new role and look forward to working and supporting him to institutionalise and implement the District Development Model (DDM) in an effort to ensure that municipalities are supported to deliver quality services to the people.”