The conference ended with victory for Panyaza Lesufi – by a small margin. With his success, he is now officially ANC Gauteng provincial chairperson.
It was a keen contest that delegates readily conceded was marked by near lawlessness and mismanagement. This did not go down with some delegates, who blamed the provincial leadership as well as the national executive committee (NEC) for the problems.
One delegate, miffed by the chaos that characterised the conference, complained that national executive committee members were booked into comfortable hotels. In contrast, branch members were forced to sleep at the conference venue on a cold weekend.
Another regretted that the organisation of the conference was shoddy at best and that the ANC ended up treating its own member as the enemy.
And yet another expressed the hope that the chaos of the weekend would not repeat itself at another conference to instal a Gauteng provincial chairperson in the future.
Panyaza Lesufi was announced winner ahead of his closest rival, Lebogang Maile, finally putting an end to one of the most keenly contested positions in the province yet. Lesufi won with 575 votes against Maile’s 543
The post of Gauteng provincial chairperson was previously held by Khawe, who lost his reelection bid.
