Zuko Komisa

Panyaza Lesufi unpacks SOPA, crime, e-tolls, and the Gauteng economy.
Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi recently spoke with Phemelo Motene on a range of topics, including crime, e-tolls, and the province’s economy, after giving his State of the Province address.
Listen to the full conversation here
On the R47 Billion owed for E-Tolls
Lesufi says the national government initially agreed to take R12 billion of the debt, causing panic as there would be a budget deficit.
“We made this announcement a year ago, on the basis of the discussion we had with the Minister of Finance, as well as the Transport Ministry that it is quite clear that the people of Gauteng have rejected this option of using e-tolls. Thus far the debt is R47 billion, and we have paid R21 billion, so we just have to take the decision. We took the decision that we are ready as Gauteng to take 30% of the debt and we want national to take 70%.
Also Read: R1.4 billion budgeted for the National Health Insurance (NHI)
On Crime in the Province
Lesufi defended the program in his speech, pointing out that the wardens were stationed at crime hotspots alongside members of the SA Police Service and metro police and had received specialized training from the South African National Defence Force.
“We are increasing the number of Crime Prevention Wardens to over 12,000. The current recruits, who will be military veterans, will remain on a two-year contract. No corner of our townships, informal settlements, CBDs or hostels will go unpoliced. Our war on crime knows no bounds; it is real and it is uncompromising.”
On the load-shedding issue
“We can’t have this protracted load-shedding running for long, it can’t be, we just have to find a way to solve this. As a province, we have put 100MW of electricity back on the grid. We have resuscitated old plants that were abandoned. We are bringing back two of them.
WATCH THE FULL STATE OF THE PROVINCE HERE:
STATE OF THE PROVINCE 2024 https://t.co/qPZmmdxs2t
— Gauteng Provincial Gov (@GautengProvince) February 19, 2024
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