Staff Reporter

A high-stakes bid by the Democratic Alliance (DA) to unseat Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi has been effectively derailed after the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party declared its refusal to support a motion of no confidence.

The MK Party’s rejection deals a major blow to the DA’s plan, which was sparked by a Public Protector report on Lesufi’s controversial crime-fighting initiative, the Gauteng Crime Prevention Wardens, or AmaPanyaza.

The motion would require a simple majority of 41 votes in the 80-seat provincial legislature.

The current political breakdown sees the Premier’s party, the African National Congress (ANC), holding a minority of 28 seats.

The DA has 22 seats, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) 11, the MK Party 8, and ActionSA 3, with the remaining seats held by smaller parties.

With the MK Party’s 8 seats now off the table, and the EFF already demanding a public retraction and apology from the DA for past inflammatory comments before any cooperation, the opposition’s math for the required majority has become virtually impossible, as ActionSA noted.

The no-confidence motion follows the recent Public Protector report that found major flaws in the AmaPanyaza program, which deployed over 6,000 wardens.

The report found the unit was established without a clear legal framework for their powers and that the deployment of wardens to perform policing functions was irregular, with millions in public funds being spent.