Gauteng SOPA opposition parties

New Gauteng Premier, Panyaza Lesufi. Image: Facebook/Panyaza Lesufi

‘Unrealistic’: DA, EFF slam Panyaza Lesufi’s Gauteng SOPA

Gauteng Premier, Panyaza Lesufi delivered his maiden SOPA on Monday and opposition parties say his plans seem too far fetched.

Gauteng SOPA opposition parties

New Gauteng Premier, Panyaza Lesufi. Image: Facebook/Panyaza Lesufi

Opposition parties in Gauteng have slammed Panyaza Lesufi’s maiden State of the Province Address (SOPA) saying his promises are unrealistic and some are rehashed from former Premier David Makhura’s speech.

Lesufi delivered the SOPA on Monday, 20 February, at Johannesburg City Hall.

OPPOSITION PARTIES WEIGH IN ON GAUTENG SOPA

During his address Lesufi said from 1 April 2023, they plan to connect suburbs, townships, business districts, schools, and other public places with high-tech, face and car recognition CCTVs. The budget for fighting crime will also be increased from R75 million to multi-billion in the next three years.

“We will arm our residents with e-Panic buttons that will be linked to our law enforcement agencies, CCTVs, and our new state-of-the-art Integrated Command Centre. We will unveil two new helicopters at the beginning of the next financial year and add four additional helicopters within the 2023/2024 budget cycle,” Lesufi said.

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Gauteng Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Nkululeko Dunga said Lesufi was dreaming when he delivered his address.

Dunga said the issue of biometric input to open an RDP house is flawed because the Department of Education and the Department of Health are failing to centralise a simple filing system.

“He committed to upgrading hostels, but until now, there has been no material difference that we have seen as our leadership is from there. All he does is lie to the indunas,” Dunga said.

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Democratic Alliance (DA) leader in Gauteng, Solly Msimanga accused Lesufi of rehashing a speech delivered by former Premier David Makhura.

“We’ve heard about biometric input; we’ve also heard about building rail infrastructure and the fast train moving between Gauteng and Limpopo…We must first address the most basic before we get to all these big things being announced,” Msimanga said.

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