Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi.
The ANC Gauteng provincial committee, led by chairperson Panyaza Lesufi, is likely to be dissolved because of “its arrogance”, national working committee (NWC) sources say.
The committee is expected to meet with the ANC Gauteng and KwaZulu Natal on Monday to present to them the report and analysis by the national executive committee (NEC) on issues unfolding in the two provinces following their dismal election results in 29 May general elections.
The NWC has been considering replacing the provincial executive committees (PECs) of both Gauteng and KwaZulu Natal with task teams in a bid to strengthen its structures ahead of 2026 local government elections. It visited both provinces in May on a fact-finding mission to establish what went wrong.
An NWC source told the Mail & Guardian on Thursday that it was not yet at the point of dissolution but this was being discussed. Gauteng is not likely to survive the chop, they added.
“The ones in KZN are trying, they have been trying to gain ground. The ones that I think are going to have to put a serious case is the Gauteng one. Their arrogance — if you look at the issues of what has been happening on the ground, they are nowhere,” the source said.
“We are not at the dissolution, it’s still too dicey, but the issues around what you have been seeing in the two provinces will have to come. If, after we have visited, there has been improvement, then they will be safe. If there is no improvement, I do think that they will face the chop.”
The recommendation by the NWC on whether to dissolve the provincial structures or augment them will be presented to the NEC which will sit in Boksburg in two weeks’ time.
Some in the NEC feel that it would be unfair for any of the provinces to be dissolved because the party also lost its national majority in the elections, forcing it to form a unity government with the Democratic Alliance, which they viewed as the ANC’s number one enemy.
In September, Lesufi told journalists that, if the NEC or the NWC felt that Gauteng needed to be dissolved or strengthened, then the province needed to be accountable, saying it could not be business as usual after losing elections.
“It is very important why we have lost elections. We have seen many structures going through this particular process of either dissolution or new conference or new leadership and other things and the situation remains the same,” Lesufi said at the time.
“It’s not mechanical that if you dissolve therefore it means this or if you don’t dissolve it means this. We just have to embark on a process of identifying the limitations and attend to those particular limitations.”
The NWC member said it had not completed its work when the working committee visited the two provinces and this would be done on Monday at the meeting with the PECs.
“We did not conclude the issues of structures that are weak and how we revive them but obviously there are those who are pushing for dissolution in those provinces. All that conversation now is coming to an end,” the source said.
A senior NEC member emphasised that the time had come to take bold action. “Dissolving the PECs and installing interim structures is not a punishment but a lifeline for our provinces. It’s about ensuring we enter the 2026 elections with credibility and unity.”
But, another NEC member said it would not be fair to dissolve the KZN PEC because it had shown willingness to work with the government of provincial unity, as opposed to the Gauteng PEC.
The source said dissolving the KZN PECs could deepen divisions rather than resolve them.
“Some members believe that the move risks sidelining regional leaders with established grassroots support, further alienating the party’s base. It is important to think this through because the KZN province is proving that it is capable of the work. But in Gauteng it’s a different situation.”
A KZN PEC member also said replacing elected leadership with interim structures would undermine the democratic will of the members.
“It sends the wrong message at a time when we should be uniting, not creating more uncertainty.
“Others worry that the interim leadership could be perceived as an attempt by the NEC to consolidate power and control, rather than genuinely address the challenges on the ground,” the member said, adding that dissolving the PEC could provoke opposition from its members, which could result in challenges at next year’s National General Council meeting.
Provincial spokesperson Mafika Mndebele told the Mail & Guardian that the PEC remains committed to party objectives. “The PEC is focused on fulfilling its mandate. If or when a decision to disband is made, the PEC will return to the branches and continue its work from there,” he said.
ANC national spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri said she was not aware that there would be any reports from NEC deployees in the provinces as there was only one report which would be tabled — the analysis done by the NEC on the issues in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
She said when the NWC visited the two provinces, it had received a number of reports from the structures and undertook to come back to the provinces with its own analysis.
“That is what is happening on Monday,” Bhengu-Motsiri said, adding that the meeting with Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal would not be about their dissolution.
“Obviously, in line with the ANC protocol, that discussion is seated with the NEC. It has to be finalised by the NEC [and] will be finalised by the NEC in December.”
Another NWC source said the decision on whether the structures were going to be dissolved needed to be concluded as the party wanted to prepare for the 2026 elections.
“The issue is that we have got to prepare for elections. The question will be whether the structures are capable of … letting us win the elections, especially the municipalities, next year.”
The NWC is expected to meet the NEC members deployed in the two provinces to get feedback, they said.
“The issue will be what would be in the report. We will get it from the deployees, if they are seeing improvement or not. We will meet with the deployees before we meet with the provinces,” they said.