DA isolated in no confidence motion against Premier Panyaza Lesufi

Multiple opposition parties in the Gauteng provincial legislature have come out to reject the Democratic Alliance (DA’s) proposed motion of no confidence in Premier Panyaza Lesufi, making it unlikely to succeed.

On 23 October, DA provincial leader Solly Msimanga announced the party’s intention to remove Lesufi from his post following a report by the public protector against the Gauteng provincial government.

The report found the Gauteng crime prevention wardens, nicknamed AmaPanyaza, were irregularly established, with no legal mandate.

As a result, Lesufi has announced that the wardens will cease to exist in their current form and will be repurposed as part of the Gauteng Traffic Police.

This will require the wardens to undergo intensive training for 18 to 36 months, with those who do not qualify being assigned to municipalities for by-law enforcement purposes.

Following this, Msimanga said that “the Public Protector Report is an indictment that he is not fit to govern Gauteng,” writing to other parties in the legislature to support the motion of no confidence.\

The African National Congress (ANC) in the province governs via a minority coalition, receiving ~34% of the vote.

The coalition, including the Patriotic Alliance, Inkatha Freedom Party and RISE Mzansi, has 32/80 seats in the legislature.

The DA, with 22 seats in the legislature, wrote to opposition parties to try and muster up support to get it over the line.

However, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), uMkhonto we Sizwe Party (MKP), and ActionSA have all refused to support or engage with the DA’s motion.

In the Gauteng legislature, the EFF has 11 seats, MKP has eight, and ActionSA has three seats.

The EFF has also refused to engage with the DA, demanding a public apology and retraction of past “inflammatory statements” made against it.

The party says any collaboration would require mutual respect and accuses the DA of repeatedly undermining it in public.

The EFF argues that its focus is on confronting the ANC directly, not “enabling DA political gains” in Gauteng.

The MK Party, meanwhile, has rejected the motion outright, defending Lesufi’s creation of the AmaPanyaza crime-prevention wardens.

The party says it will not punish the Premier “for trying to tackle crime”, even if the programme had procedural issues.

ActionSA has dismissed the DA’s motion of no confidence as a “political stunt,” accusing the party of hypocrisy for previously supporting Lesufi and the ANC.

The DA had voted for Lesufi, the ANC Gauteng chairperson, after the 2024 elections, with the expectation that the coalitions seen nationally and in KwaZulu-Natal would happen in the province. However, the deal fell through.

The party says that, without the support of the EFF and MKP, the numbers simply do not add up for the motion to succeed, and that it will not back a move it sees as pointless.

ActionSA also insists that before the DA can expect any cooperation, it must apologise to the people of Gauteng for helping keep the ANC in power.

Newsday reached out to the DA in Gauteng for comment, but did not get a response by time of publication. Comment will be added if received.