Sopa: Parties take on Lesufi

Election season is in full swing but ANC chief whip Lesego Makhubela may have crossed the line when he said the Democratic Alliance (DA) gave people in Tshwane cholera and killed them.

Even after a 15-minute commotion yesterday during the State of Province Address (Sopa) debate, with members in the chamber demanding Makhubela withdraw his statement, he never did.

The ANC also said members of the DA and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) “were beneficiaries of the ANC”.

DA Gauteng leader Solly Msimanga said the provincial government has failed to turn the tide on illegal mining. “I can tell you that if you go to Randfontein, if you go to Carletonville, it is business as usual,” he said.

“The zama zamas are continuing to do what they have been doing. You can continue to make a noise but this is the real state of the province.”

Lesufi replied that his government had reported that the work of the SA National Defence Force had yielded dividends.

“We said out of the assistance of the army, more than 9 000 zama zamas were arrested, and there was a recovery of more 1 532 stolen vehicles. If you say that is not impact, then I don’t know what is it we need to do,” he said.

He said it was “clear that there’s no party ready and able to lead the province beside the ANC”.

Msimanga reminded Lesufi they were told e-tolls were a thing of the past. He said Lesufi was failing to reveal there was more than R12 billion they will have to pay. Lesufi’s response was that the ANC were the first ones to approach Treasury to scrap e-toll.

“These roads might be in Gauteng but they are not roads for residents of Gauteng only... National government wanted us to contribute 60%, we are proud that we pushed that back to almost 30%.”

The EFF said Lesufi missed an opportunity to restore the confidence of Gauteng residents