All eyes on Gauteng premier

E-tolls are expected to take centre stage when the Gauteng premier gives his state of the province speech today.

The ruling party in the province resolved at its conference late last year that Gauteng would scrape-tolling.

Premier David Makhura is expected to try to explain his government's failure to follow through on the resolution.

Makhura did establish a panel to assess the effects of tolls on residents and businesses.

The DA leader in the provincial legislature, John Moodey, said "only one solution remains, and that is for the premier to announce a provincial referendum on e-tolls in his address".

Moodey said Makhura must lead Gauteng towards an era of prosperity and economic growth, free from e-tolls, corruption, nepotism and maladministration.

"This administration needs to heed the cries of people in municipalities in this province who daily struggle for water, electricity and decent housing," he said.

The Economic Freedom Fighters' leader in the legislature, Mandisa Mashego, said his party did not expect Makhura to be honest in his state of the province speech.

"The ANC will not change the lives of our people; they do not have a radical programme which will transform the lives of our people."

She said the EFF would not be unruly in the legislature.

"The EFF's position has always been that provincial governments are useless, they suck up resources that should have been channelled to local government," she said.

The strategy and media liaison officer in the premier's office, Nozipho Dlamini, said Makhura has made a number of commitments which he had fulfilled.

She credited Makhura's administration with introducing tablet computers in schools.

Dlamini said a service delivery "war room" that, she said, would enhance development and service delivery across Gauteng, had been inaugurated.