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Alliance Backlash Builds Over Lesufi Naming EFF’s Dunga Gauteng Finance MEC

The dispute exposes rifts inside ANC-aligned groups over entrusting the province’s roughly R180 billion budget to an EFF leader.

Overview

  • Premier Panyaza Lesufi reshuffled his cabinet and put EFF Gauteng chair Nkululeko Dunga in charge of finance and economic development, drawing sharp pushback from the ANC’s civic ally SANCO.
  • SANCO demanded Lesufi resign and cited Dunga’s 2025 removal as Ekurhuleni finance chief, where the mayor blamed absenteeism, poor leadership, and the city’s financial strain.
  • The EFF backed the appointment as a move to steady provincial finances, and Lesufi told Newzroom Afrika that Dunga is talented and capable of the job.
  • ANC structures are divided, with the Veterans’ League warning about placing R179–R180 billion under Dunga’s watch, the Youth League calling the reshuffle an anomaly, and ANC headquarters rejecting a viral resignation poster as fake.
  • The taxi council Santaco rejected reports that it wanted Lesufi removed, saying the call actually came from SANCO and that it does not take positions on party politics.