DA wants Gauteng Premier David Makhura out, alleges he is protecting corrupt ANC officials

The DA has called for Gauteng Premier David Makhura to save his face and resign before being removed through a Motion of No Confidence set for Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL) on 18 October 2022.

The party said it is close to seeing Makhura removed through the upcoming debate of its Motion of No Confidence (MONC) against him after speaking to the opposition parties, including the ANC.

The DA has been calling for Makhura to be removed, accusing him of failure to release SIU investigation reports which the Premier had promised to release.

DA leader in the province, Solly Msimanga, said Makhura is shielding and protecting corrupt ANC officials through his failure to make these key investigations public.

"Despite promising that all SIU reports will be made public, Makhura has failed to release them and continues to shield the corrupt," the DA said.

Msimang also said the DA submitted its motion at the beginning of September, but its efforts were blocked by members of the ANC in the province, adding that the change of tune is a step in the right direction for the success of the motion on Makhura.

"The DA is not surprised by the sudden change of tune by the ANC, as they also want Makhura out. However, because of their internal factions, they must continue to speak in forked tongues, which has made them consider our MONC as the only solution to get rid of him, " Msimanga said.

Msimanga added that the DA hoped that a vote by secret ballot would be used, which would ensure that members of the ANC also vote in favour of Makhura's removal.

"We have already engaged different political parties that have agreed to support our motion, and we are certain of victory," he said.

Msimanga said their biggest problem with the Premier is his failure to address the Eskom crisis, which has affected small businesses and residents of the province.

"Premier Makhura continues to fail residents of Gauteng. He is nowhere to be found while our people are struggling due to load shedding that is secretly crippling the economy. There is no plan of action for his government to deal with the current blackouts. Our people are suffering as our municipalities are struggling to ensure that residents have access to uninterrupted water supply during load shedding, " he said.

The party also accused Makhura of failing township-based businesses by not procuring goods and services from these black-owned and township-based enterprises.

"Nearly ten years down the line, the provincial government and municipalities are yet to procure 75% of all goods and services from South African producers, especially SMMEs, township enterprises and black-owned women and youth enterprises. To save his face, he must resign as a matter of urgency before being removed through DA's motion of no confidence, " Msimanga said.