Civil rights organisation AfriForum is urging national government to remove Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi from office to “prevent a catastrophe” in the country’s economic hub, citing his failure to implement effective oversight mechanisms.

The organisation warned that Gauteng’s impending water crisis could be attributed to the serious extent of municipal decay and “Lesufi’s failure to act decisively”.

AfriForum argued that Lesufi’s failure to fix the province’s poorly performing municipalities through Article 139 interventions should serve as proof of the premier’s inability to carry out his duties.

“Lesufi’s inability to resolve problems in the province cannot be continued at the expense of the province’s residents – especially not while water supply in the province threatens to bring the country’s most important economic hub to its knees. That is why the national government’s intervention, which the Constitution provides for, is essential. Lesufi’s removal from this critical position is now the only way out,” stated AfriForum local government affairs manager Morné Mostert.

He said the Auditor General’s (AG's) latest report on Gauteng governments painted a grim picture, in which it revealed widespread financial mismanagement, governance failures, deterioration of infrastructure and noncompliance with essential legislative requirements.

Nearly 80% of municipalities and municipal entities in the province received qualified audit opinions, he pointed out.

Mostert said despite the Section 139 interventions that had been dragging on since June 2018, February 2019 and September 2022, in the Emfuleni local municipality, the West Rand district municipality and the Merafong local municipality, respectively, Lesufi had not yet been able to bring about any significant change in these struggling municipalities.

Mostert stated that the intervention in the Emfuleni local municipality had been largely ineffective.

He said the Merafong local municipality had already been under administration for more than five years as part of the Section 139 intervention process.

Mostert emphasised that Lesufi’s “failure to implement effective oversight mechanisms and his reluctance to demand accountability” from municipalities had created a critical leadership vacuum at the municipal level.

Challenges regarding municipal infrastructure, and poorly planned and delayed projects had resulted in large-scale service delivery problems, he noted.

Mostert pointed to the 45 infrastructure projects in the province, saying their completion was delayed, while municipalities had spent less than 8% of the value of their infrastructure assets, far below the guideline established by the Treasury, on necessary repair and maintenance.

Mostert alleged that Lesufi’s administration was in “danger of forcing Gauteng over the brink of collapse”, where basic services such as clean water, sanitation and waste management were no longer guaranteed.

“Without a clear strategy to tackle the systemic issues plaguing these municipalities, Gauteng is headed for an inevitable disaster,” Mostert said