Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) Minister, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma has congratulated the new Premier of Gauteng, Panyaza Lesufi, on his election.

Lesufi was on Thursday elected to the position during a special sitting of the provincial legislature. It came after former Premier, David Makhura, resigned from the top post on Tuesday.

Dlamini Zuma said: “After eight years of dedication, selfless leadership and commitment to the development of our communities, Mr David Makhura decided to hand over the baton to the new leadership.

“This bold and courageous move by the former Premier will go a long way in ensuring continued service delivery to our people. This well-executed handover of power to the new leadership is exemplary and should inspire and propel our democracy going forward.”

She said the new leadership under Premier Lesufi “will surely be able to continue the good work done in this province under the stewardship of the former premier”.

“We need to ensure improved governance, oversight, accountability and institutional stability towards effective and efficient functioning municipalities across the province which meet the aspirations of the population we serve.

“We wish Premier Lesufi well in his new role and look forward to working and supporting him to institutionalise and implement the District Development Model (DDM) in an effort to ensure that municipalities are supported to deliver quality services to the people.”

The Minister thanked Makhura for the work he had done in putting the province on a positive trajectory and wished him well in all his future endeavours. 

Source: South African Government News Agency