Gauteng ANC provincial chairperson Panyaza Lesufi. Picture: Itumeleng English, Independent Newspaper
GAUTENG Premier and provincial chairperson of the ANC Panyaza Lesufi has told ANC members gathered for the party’s two-day lekgotla in Johannesburg to fight the rot and destruction of the part.
Lesufi, who spoke on the first day of the PEC meeting on Sunday at the Birchwood Hotel in Boksburg, warned that the country’s problems would remain unresolved if the ANC was removed from power.
The party’s provincial and regional leaders, as well as party members deployed in government, are attending the gathering.
The meeting has been mandated to reflect on the outcomes of the May 29 elections and work on a programme of action for the government of provincial unity.
“We must rise and dust ourselves up and rebuild this movement. This is because, there is no other movement that we have except the ANC. Comrades, you might be a doctor, you might be an engineer. It does not matter whether you are an educated professional (engineer or doctor). The reality is that, if the ANC goes, it is going to be difficult for all of us to survive. Not on the basis of government things, but on the strategic centre that paves a way for transformation and access would have been removed... You will struggle both in the private and government. Parties like the DA are against transformation.
“The moment the ANC is removed from power and replaced by the DA, just know that black people are going to feel the pain,” he said.
On the issue of corruption, Lesufi said most of the corruption in government departments was committed by officials and not members of the ANC per se.
“But most corruption is mainly committed by government officials. We endure the blame whilst they are sabotaging the state. The ANC must be the priority now at all government levels. It must be the authority of everything in government.”
Lesufi added that the problem arose from the ANC being in government: “We have governmentisation of ANC. All ANC problems find their way to the State. If the ANC is unstable, in that particular region or province, even the government of that particular region and province will be unstable. But, we must find the mechanism to stop that rot.”
Lesufi said for the ANC to rise again, it needed to properly assess the situation on the ground and not misdiagnose the problems that saw the party failing to achieve a convincing win in the recent elections.
“We must either adapt or we perish. We must either adapt or we die, we must either adapt or close shop. And comrades it is not going to assist anyone to finger point and say this province has made us to lose, all of us averagely as a country we have achieved 40% and that’s a loss, and we must thintha ourselves and rise and rebuild this movement because there is no other movement for us except the ANC,” he said.