Panyaza Lesufi has been officially sworn in as the 7th Premier of Gauteng. Lesufi became victorious with 38 votes whilst DA Leader Solly Msimanga only got 22 votes during a special sitting at the Gauteng legislature. Lesufi was sworn in by Deputy Judge President of the North Gauteng High Court, Aubrey Ledwaba on Thursday afternoon. Sixty members  voted and one member abstained from voting.

WOMEN TO LEAD

In June Lesufi was elected as the Chairperson of the African National Congress at the party's 14th Provincial Conference. After his election, ANC in Gauteng began discussions aboutDavid Makhura's exit from office. ANC Gauteng provincial secretary Thembinkosi Nciza said the new cabinet will include a high number of skilled women.
Yesterday, Lesufi  told the media that "he was humbled" that the ANC wanted to appoint him as a premier-candidate, but said the province was faced with more challenges. In his acceptance speech, he thanked Makhura for his contribution to the province. He said he would announce his new provincial executive council, or Cabinet tomorrow afternoon. "it is truly an honour to be bestowed with the priviledge to lead Gauteng as premier. I humble myself before you and the people of the province. The ANC saw it fit to select me to serve in this weighty role and for that, I'm eternally grateful and promise not to dishonor the trust upon me,"said Lesufi.
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IMPROVING THE STATE OF TOWNSHIPS

Lesufi said the  highlights of his administration would be to improve the quality of Gauteng residents. "As long as our townships are still in their current state, our freedom has not arrived. If we still have informal settlements we still haven't accomplished our tasks." Msimanga said there was nothing new that Lesufi was bringing.  "Residents of Gauteng  will continue to endure poor basic service from a government that is only concerned with enriching themselves. He was under Makhura's leadership and that failed to deliver simple basic needs."

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THE  CHOP

Meanwhile in Limpopo, three Members of the Executive Council have been axed by Premier Stan Mathabatha as part of his cabinet configuration on Thursday. The dreadful guillotine fell on Mathabatha's political rival, MEC for Social Development Namane Masemola, Polly Boshielo and Thandi Marake who were MECs for Education and Sports, Arts and Culture respectively. In a surprise move, Mathabatha has appointed former executive mayor of Vhembe District Municipality Florence Radzilani and then mayor of Lepelle Nkumpi municipality Nakedi Sibanda-Kekana, who are both embroiled in the VBS scandal. Radzilani has been appointed MEC for Transport and Community Safety while Sibanda-Kekana has been deployed to Sports, Arts and Culture.  

SETTLING THE SCORE?

The reshuffling comes three months after the reconfiguration in which Boshielo was swapped with Mavhungu Luruli-Ramakhanya from Education to Transport and Community Safety. Rodgers Monama has been appointed to be the MEC for Limpopo Economic Development, Environment and Tourism (LEDET) after Thabo Mokone has been moved to Agriculture and Land Reform.Meanwhile, long-serving MEC Seaparo Sekoati has retained his position at Treasury as well as Health MEC Phophi Ramathuba and Bioskop Makamu at Cooperative Governance, Human Settlement and Traditional Affairs. Mathabatha and Masemola have at loggerheads since the provincial conference in June in which Masemola lost his bid to replace Mathabatha as chairman.   A month after challenging Mathabatha, Masemola, who was the MEC for Public Works, was moved to a less influential portfolio at Social Development.  

HE DENIED RESHUFFLING AFTER CONFERENCE

Speculation has been rife in Limpopo that Mathabatha will victimise those who were not in his faction ahead of the provincial conference but he denied any eminent reshuffling. He said at the time that a reshuffling of the executive committee was not supposed to be informed by the outcome of the conference. He said "You can't drop a person from the cabinet because he contested you during the conference. That would be petty politics."Following the recent reshuffling, Morake and Boshielo were left in a tailspin.Boshielo was at the strategic planning meeting for the transport and community safety sector in the Waterberg when the news of her sacking hit her.Writing on her Facebook page, Boshielo said "Let me take this opportunity to thank the premier and the ANC for giving me the opportunity to serve the people of Limpopo in various portfolios. Assomblief tog!" said Boshielo, who is a former Speaker at the provincial legislature.

NOT IN THE INTEREST OF THE PROVINCE

Moraka said "We did our part and congratulations to the newly appointed MECs." The DA in Limpopo said they were not concerned about the axing of Masemola, Boshielo and Moraka but were anxious about the appointment of Radzilani and Sibanda-Kekana. Katlego Phala, the DA's caucus whip said, "It is clear that this latest reshuffle is not in the interest of a province in real distress, but rather for Premier Mathabatha and his faction to gird for the upcoming ANC national conference. Premier Mathabatha lost a real opportunity to make more extensive changes to provide credible leaders for a government of an ailing province."