The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in Gauteng have expressed their unhappiness over the reappointment of the same old African National Congress (ANC) leaders to top government positions in the province.
This comes after Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi announced his provincial cabinet on Wednesday night.
The Executive Council is made up of seven members from the ANC and one each from the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), Patriotic Alliance (PA) and Rise Mzansi.
All seven ANC MECs are from the previous Sixth Government. The Democratic Alliance (DA) has decided to remain in opposition in Gauteng.
EFF Gauteng spokesperson Dumisani Baleni said: “Most importantly, the EFF has clearly stated its willingness and readiness to govern before and after the elections, as we strongly believe that the interests and aspirations of the people can only be advanced through the capable and committed leadership of the EFF. The EFF remains the only credible option ideologically and politically in the fight against capitalism, racism, corruption and poverty. However, we respect the will of the voters in that while they rejected the ANC, they did not give themselves a firm mandate to form government on their own.”
“Negotiations in bad faith”
Meanwhile, the DA's Helen Zille has criticised the ANC, saying it is not interested in power sharing. Zille said the ANC sees itself as in charge despite not having a majority. This comes after coalition talks between the DA and the ANC collapsed, with the DA withdrawing and failing to join the Gauteng Government of Unity (GPU) executive.
Zille said the reason talks collapsed was because the ANC was negotiating without good faith.
“Not only is it unfair and unreasonable, it doesn't reflect the will of the voters. We exposed what the ANC was doing and told them we cannot go ahead if they are not being sincere, if they are manipulating and lying like that we cannot go ahead. The three seats they initially offered were given eight seats to three because they wanted to retain seven seats and the premier's seat. They tried to put the DA in charge of three meaningless portfolios and they didn't even tell us what the portfolios were.”
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