“There is no such thing as Gauteng exceptionalism,” says the head of elections for the ANC in Gauteng, Lebogang Maile, defending his province’s stance on coalition negotiations in the aftermath of the May 29 polls.
The ANC suffered its biggest setback in the elections in KwaZulu-Natal thanks to Jacob Zuma’s MK Party, but its performance in Gauteng should keep party bosses awake at night.
The province is the economic heart of the country and has the biggest share of the electorate. Its population is dynamic and politically savvy, sometimes shifting loyalties rapidly. It is the province where economic shocks are most keenly felt — and it has caused headaches for the ANC since 2014, when the party’s support slipped 10 percentage points to just 53%. Propped up by the election of President Cyril Ramaphosa as party leader in 2018, the ANC’s support in Gauteng held in 2019, when it won a narrow outright majority with just 51% of the vote.
Its support dissipated as quickly as the Ramaphoria that briefly held sway after Zuma’s ouster. In May, ANC support in Gauteng dropped to 34.7%. At the time, the provincial leadership was facing a revolt from some of its structures over its decision to enter coalitions with the EFF to take control of the Joburg and Ekurhuleni metros.
Now, the Gauteng provincial executive committee represents the largest group within the party opposed to the government of national unity (GNU) and the partnership with the DA. Talks between the DA and the ANC in Gauteng broke down over positions in July, culminating in a minority government in Gauteng.
The FM understands that the ANC’s national leadership has stepped in to help strengthen governments in the metros, which have been plagued by unstable coalitions since the 2021 local elections. This has effectively sidelined the provincial leadership.
This week is crucial, with a motion of no confidence in DA Tshwane mayor Cilliers Brink set for Thursday. The FM understands that a tie-up between the ANC and the DA was on the cards.
Maile confirms that the ANC’s national leadership is leading the talks to stabilise metros. He, like Ramaphosa, does not foresee difficulties in running the provincial government without an outright majority.
He tells the FM the party needs an outright majority in the provincial legislature to pass legislation and budgets, which should be easy to achieve through negotiations with such parties as ActionSA, the MK Party and the EFF. The national leadership is also fully in support of Gauteng’s decision not to copy the GNU arrangements, he says.
The explanation is simple, we are working with those who want to work with us
— ANC Gauteng head of elections Lebogang Maile
“There’s no decision we can take without consulting national leadership because the ANC is a unitary structure and it is guided by a principle of democratic centralism. So we consult with the leadership,” he says.
“There might be decisions that appear not to be enjoying the support of certain leaders at different levels and they might be projected as Gauteng defiance. There is no room for such in the ANC. The ANC might appear to be some disjointed organisation, but when it comes to decision-making it’s not.”
There was also nothing “conspiratorial” or “secret” about why talks with the DA had failed, he says.
“The explanation is simple: we are working with those who want to work with us; if you don’t want to work with us we can’t force you, it’s a simple explanation. So it’s not like some hidden secret complex method — it’s simple, we approached everybody, those who agree to work with us, we’re working with them; those who disagree, we’re not working with them.”
The ANC in Gauteng and the DA fell out over the allocation of positions. The ANC was unwilling to part with positions to accommodate smaller parties in the legislature, expecting only the DA to do so. In the end, the DA walked away.
The ANC in Gauteng needed the positions in the provincial cabinet to manage the factional split between Maile and provincial chair Panyaza Lesufi.
Maile is convinced the government in place will be efficient enough to turn the ANC’s fortunes around in the province, which contributes 35% to the national GDP.
But if the majority takes that decision, unfortunately, in a democratic organisation, sometimes you have to live with the decision of the majority, even if it’s wrong
— ANC Gauteng head of elections Lebogang Maile
“We have to make the best of what we have and most importantly we need to strengthen the ANC and make sure that the structures are rooted in communities and we deal with their weaknesses. The fact that we still [hold] the levers of power and we’re still governing, though with some dilution, puts us at an advantage on its own.”
It is wrong to argue that the set-up in Gauteng is doomed “simply because one particular party is not there”.
The ANC’s national executive committee is expected to meet over the weekend and while some might push for the leadership in the province to be disbanded for going against the national line, Maile believes this is unlikely.
“Yes, yes, there are people … who argue that we have defied the leadership and that it must be used to disband and all that. There’s no such thing. I only read in the papers about disbandments and all that. I don’t think [it would] help in any way. But if the majority takes that decision, unfortunately, in a democratic organisation, sometimes you have to live with the decision of the majority, even if it’s wrong.”
In terms of political strategy, the ANC in Gauteng appears to be aimless — with just two years to the local elections, it will have to find some “Gauteng exceptionalism” to turn its fortunes around.
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