Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi was set to reveal his executive at the weekend, but postponed this due to negotiation hurdles.
Lesufi had planned to announce his provincial executive to lead Gauteng over the next five years on Sunday afternoon but postponed it two hours before the set time.
“Negotiators requested more time”, he said in response to hundreds of residents on social media who questioned the postponement.
The ANC lost its majority vote in the province after the party garnered only 36.49% of votes. He was re-elected premier, however, with the help of the party’s government of national unity partner, the DA.
Lesufi’s announcement was postponed, as the DA and ANC negotiations over MEC positions deadlocked this weekend.
“Some of the discussions are heavy, difficult, and we have entered uncharted waters. No-one can make reference to history on these matters and no-one can claim to be an expert. We have to give it the time needed to resolve the matter as speedily as possible”, Lesufi said in an interview with eNCA.
He expressed his impatience with negotiations “because the consequences are severe. At this moment there are no MECs. I am the only one. Hospitals need something, roads need to be fixed, and many other things. Education needs to be attended to. I’m very hopeful that before the end of next week we should have established government in our province and should have established government nationally”.
Lesufi emphasised the complexity of negotiations. “Unfortunately these are not usual negotiations. They’re extremely complicated and difficult.”