Lesufi must be dismissed from position as MEC for his inappropriate criticism of Coligny-2 ruling

30 November 2020

The FF Plus views Panyaza Lesufi's criticism of the Coligny-2 ruling by the Supreme Court of Appeal as inappropriate and irreconcilable with his position as Education MEC for Gauteng.

The FF Plus demanded that Lesufi must be dismissed in an official letter to the Gauteng Premier, David Makhura.

Of late, Lesufi has been meddling in issues that bear no relation to his position as MEC, while there are serious problems in his Department that need attention. He expressed criticism and opinions – particularly on Twitter – about, among other things, Orania's right of existence and alleged that a civil rights organisation has threatened his life.

We don’t mind to respect the law but when the law is meaningless it will be challenged. We can’t surrender our hard fought freedom to racists and @Afriforum. NPA please do the honorable thing and appeal this nonsense pic.twitter.com/INArk2TyDe

— Panyaza Lesufi (@Lesufi) November 28, 2020

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Concerning the latter, he is yet to provide any proof.

He is also very busy promoting his soccer team in which he has shares – one of the sponsors of the said team obtained a fairly large contract with the Gauteng government in an irregular manner. The FF Plus has asked the Public Protector (PP) to investigate the contract. According to the PP, the investigation has progressed well and is near completion. 

One of the main problems in the Department of Education under Lesufi's leadership is that too few schools are being built in light of the demographic growth in Gauteng. Lesufi is instead focused on attacking Afrikaans schools and forcing them to accommodate learners that speak other languages. 

The FF Plus has stated before that his harassment of Afrikaans schools is unlawful and immoral given the fact that Afrikaans schools comprise a mere 6% of all public schools in Gauteng. In addition, many problems are experienced with placing learners in schools every year because the centralised online system is not functioning properly.

There are many more problems jeopardising learners' educational futures that are not being addressed because the political leadership under Lesufi's guidance is too focused on matters that are completely irrelevant to their Department.

Lesufi should have been dismissed a long time ago.

Issued by Anton Alberts, FF Plus national chairperson and MPL: Gauteng, 30 November 2020