EDITORIAL | Incoming premier Lesufi will inherit a long list of problems

On Thursday, Gauteng gets a new premier. This as David Makhura announced his resignation after being in the position since 2014, leaving behind a province riddled with problems and a tenure marked with more low points than high. ANC Gauteng chair and education MEC Panyaza Lesufi is set to be voted in as the new premier at a special sitting scheduled by the Gauteng provincial legislature.

As we look back on Makhura’s time in office, the worst moments that unfolded on his watch included the Life Esidimeni tragedy that took the lives of more than 140 vulnerable people. Makhura will probably be the first to tell Lesufi he is inheriting a province that is difficult to manage. It is the home to SA’s executive capital in Tshwane and its biggest economic hub, the city of Johannesburg, which generates 17% of the country’s GDP. It is also SA’s most populous city, with more than 5.6-million residents, bringing with it a huge demand for proper service delivery.

Doctors, nurses and patients at Johannesburg hospitals often find themselves working or being treated in conditions without the most basic of services: running water.

As Lesufi takes over this week, many parts of Johannesburg are without water with load-shedding wreaking havoc with our pump stations and reservoirs. Our roads are dotted with potholes, motorists get stuck in load-shedding traffic and dead traffic lights cause standstills. Doctors, nurses and patients at Johannesburg hospitals often find themselves working or being treated in conditions without the most basic of services: running water. One of Makhura’s biggest issues he tried to tackle — but failed — was Johannesburg’s e-tolls mess. There has been no lasting solution for a funding model or plans to deal with the high rate of non-payment of e-tolls among motorists. 

While some of these functions to solve many of the above matters belong with the national government, Lesufi is still inheriting a long list of problems that will fall under his jurisdiction — and which will not solve themselves.

Gauteng needs a go-getter premier. Lesufi, in his portfolio as education MEC, has shown us he can act fast and decisively. He will also need to remember to sometimes take a step back, and instead of reacting emotionally, rather consider rational and sustainable solutions. Elections are coming up next year but his decisions need to be based on what is best for those living in the province, and not what is best only for a political career. This is what the nation’s economic jewel deserves.