Tshwarelo Hunter Mogakane
Pretoria - Gauteng Premier David Makhura has debunked reports that he is being “elbowed” out of his position as the political leader of the provincial government.
Makhura held an urgent joint media briefing with the new political leaders of the ANC in Gauteng, in response to widely circulating media reports speculating that he was being pushed out to make way for a new premier under the watchful eye of provincial chairperson Panyaza Lesufi and secretary Thembinkosi “TK” Nciza.
Lesufi and Nciza told the media the provincial executive committee (PEC) of the ANC held a special meeting on Friday to discuss three crucial agenda items, including readiness for the ANC’s elective conference in Gauteng in December, the state of local government and the reception of a report from the provincial government.
Nciza praised Makhura for his mature leadership in “initiating” a process for the smooth handover of power to the next yet-to-be-named premier of Gauteng.
“We came back as a PEC that sat on September 2 and engaged Comrade David Makhura. There is nowhere where the PEC would have said Comrade David Makhura must resign as premier of Gauteng. Comrade David was a secretary for the longest time. He understands how such processes must happen. We acknowledge him for initiating such a process. It is not all the time there is a power handover that there must be chaos,” said Nciza.
Makhura, who was reportedly going to be recalled before jetting off to Germany on government business, said he had reported back to ANC branches in February that he would not run for the position of provincial party chairperson, but would hand over power smoothly. He also debunked reports that he was being elbowed out because he was preparing to conduct lifestyle audits that would compromise his comrades.
“In Gauteng, we have done all things differently. That’s why even on the lifestyle audits we want to hold them to the highest standards.
Believe it or not, we all share that deep sense. It’s in our conference resolutions.
“There are people whispering and saying ‘let’s recall him’, but there is no one who came to this (ANC) leadership and said ‘recall this fellow’. Bayahleba. They lack confidence because when you recall you have to put reasons and you have to prove the reasons …
“This PEC has not come to that, and I have not come to a decision to resign. I am going to hand over. This is a smooth transition and a seamless handover process. It has happened previously where they plunged both the ANC and the government into a crisis. Both myself as the premier and the leadership of the ANC are concerned about that. What we are doing here is not comparable with anything that happened anywhere else. Why should I wait until 2024?” Makhura said.
The premier fielded questions from the media that cast doubt on the background scenes leading to the media briefing.
“There is no decision to recall the premier and there is no decision to resign. Resigning is resigning. We learn from our history. There are things that the ANC is not going to repeat.
“The reason the PEC understands the consequences of recall is that it has happened in our movement, such as the recall of president Thabo Mbeki.
“The ANC is not going to repeat its mistakes.” Makhura was at pains to explain the difference between a smooth transition of leadership versus being recalled or resigning as a politician.
“It is not semantics. That’s basic English and a bit of political science. Recall is a decision taken by a structure – an executive in the ANC – that says this leader, for this reason, or that reason, says they want someone else as a leader. In this particular case, it is very straightforward.
“There were many attempts to try to convince me by some ANC members (who wanted me) to stand as (ANC) chair to avoid a situation where if you are not a chair you may not be premier. I say that is very illogical. The ANC does not work like that.
“It’s not being in a position of chair that determines that. I can’t contest when the full assessment is that you have done what you needed to do as a leader of the province,” Makhura said.
Pretoria News