Premier Panyaza Lesufi’s claims of transparency around corruption and senior government reshuffles are nothing more than a public relations smokescreen designed to mislead the public and protect ANC cadres.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) Gauteng cautions against taking the Premier’s announcements at face value without any verification. Our experience is that the Premier has a habit of creating positive spin to cover his failures.
Despite Lesufi’s repeated claims of tackling corruption, no meaningful consequences have followed. Reports are heavily redacted, names of implicated officials are withheld, and key departments are run by politically connected individuals with questionable credentials. These actions are not about clean governance; they are about protecting ANC cadres while critical service delivery collapses.
For example, he refers to having previously issued 47 such reports, and now he is following this up with others. The fact is, we have examined those previous reports, and indeed they only relate to 37 cases, not the 47 that he claims.
Furthermore, there are three Heads of Departments (HOD) who have failed the lifestyle audits and have been removed from their positions. No names have been provided, and no information on whether they are still in the employment of the Gauteng Provincial Government (GPG).
The DA Gauteng will scrutinise the newly released reports intensely when these eventually surface in public. If we find that these are similarly lacking in detail, we will continue to pursue the matter as we have done through the Information Regulator South Africa. We suspect that while Premier claims to be open and transparent when dealing with corruption, he is only doing so after many months, and in some cases, years of delay. Moreover, he does not go far enough despite the picture he seeks to present as a man of action. He is, in fact, a man of inaction and public relations (PR).
We are also curious about the basis on which he is reshuffling HODs. Appointing HODs must follow due process. It is not clear that this is happening in this case. In the case of the Gauteng Department of Social Development, it has had an acting HOD since April 2024. Instead of giving this department a permanent HOD, he is once again compromising the stability and leadership of the department.
There are supposed to be advertisements, followed by shortlisting, assessment of competencies, selection panel interviews, recommendations and then appointment. Any other route to appointing people can only be seen as suspicious and challengeable in law.
Normally, individuals in these posts will have been appointed on contract. In some cases, these contracts still have various months and perhaps years to run. What gives him the authority to shuffle in the way he is doing? It can only be possible if those being shuffled are compliant ANC cadres willing to be deployed wherever.
We cite two examples of inappropriate appointments, one of which is Phumla Sekhonyane in the position of Social Development. She comes from a public relations background and, more recently, was a chief of staff in a political office. This prior experience does not render her suitable to run a R10 billion a year organisation employing hundreds of people with hundreds of thousands of beneficiaries at her mercy.
Secondly, there is the unresolved situation in the Department of Health. We note that there are yet to be any formal appointments, and while this is the case, a highly implicated person, Arnold Malotana, is allowed to continue in that position. During his watch, R250 million worth of cancer treatment budget was not spent, and patients have since died.
The DA Gauteng will pursue this matter incessantly. Half-baked and botched forensic processes will be exposed. A DA-led Gauteng provincial government would ensure proper investigation and proper prosecution of those implicated in corruption.
We will examine the appointments announced and the processes that were followed to arrive at these decisions. A DA-led Gauteng provincial government would ensure that all senior management appointments are made by using lawful processes, employing the most fit-for-purpose person in each case.