The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in Gauteng says it is unimpressed by the re-appointment of the same old African National Congress (ANC) leaders into government positions in the province.
This follows the announcement of the provincial cabinet by Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi on Wednesday night.
The Executive Council comprises seven members from the ANC and one member each from the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), the Patriotic Alliance (PA) and RiseMzansi.
All the seven ANC MECs are from the previous sixth administration. The Democratic Alliance (DA) has decided to remain an opposition party in Gauteng.
EFF Gauteng Communications Officer Dumisani Baleni says, “Most importantly the EFF clearly articulated its intention and readiness to enter into government, before and after elections. This is because we strongly believe that the interests and aspirations of our people can be advanced only by the capable and dedicated leadership of the EFF. The EFF remains the only ideologically and politically reliable alternative in the fight against capitalism, racism, corruption and poverty. However, we respect the will of the voters in that while they have rejected the ANC, they did not give us a solid mandate to form government on our own.”
‘Negotiating in bad faith’
Meanwhile, the DA’s Hellen Zille has criticised the ANC, saying it isn’t interested in sharing power. She says despite the ANC not winning an outright majority they see themselves as in charge. This was after the coalition talks between the DA and the ANC broke down and the DA withdrew and failed to form part of the Executive of the Gauteng Government of Provincial Unity (GPU).
Zille says the reason talks collapsed is because the ANC was negotiating in bad faith.
“Not only is unfair and unreasonable but it doesn’t reflect the will of the voters and we uncovered what the ANC was doing, we told them we cannot proceed without good faith and we cannot proceed if you are going to manipulate and lie to us like that. Their initial offer of three seats was based on the fact that they wanted to keep 7 seats plus the premier that would have given 8 to 3. They wanted the DA to take three meaningless portfolios. They would not even tell us what those portfolios were.”
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