{"id":855902,"date":"2026-04-03T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=855902"},"modified":"2026-04-03T15:47:36","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T13:47:36","slug":"the-eff-is-now-in-charge-of-the-finances-of-south-africas-richest-province","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/855902\/the-eff-is-now-in-charge-of-the-finances-of-south-africas-richest-province\/","title":{"rendered":"The EFF is now in charge of the finances of South Africa’s richest province"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) are now part of the Gauteng Provincial Government, with Nkululeko Dunga named Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Finance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi appointed Dunga to the role and moved Lebogang Maile from Finance to Education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This gives an EFF member oversight over South Africa’s richest province, which accounts for around 35% of the nation’s GDP. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The EFF welcomed the appointment, stating that it marks a progressive step towards strengthening governance in the province and ensuring stability within the administration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also confirms the EFF’s participation in the Government of Provincial Unity, which it said aligns with its principle to join coalitions as long as its key principles are upheld. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This includes 7 Non-Negotiable Cardinal Pillars of the EFF and the clear exclusion of parties that it said are racist, namely the DA and VF Plus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The EFF said that it had confidence in Dunga’s leadership capabilities, discipline, and ability to work within a collective, while advancing its interests. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dunga previously worked as a Member of the City of Ekurhuleni Council, where he held the position of EFF Caucus Leader. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also served as chair of the Municipal Public Accounts (MPAC) oversight committee and as an MMC for Finance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other moves included Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko moving from the Department of Health to the Department of Social Development, while Faith Mazibuko made the opposite move. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rise Mzansi’s Vuyiswa Ramokgopa also received the portfolio for Economic Development, in addition to her role in Agriculture and Rural Development. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

DA and VF Plus slam the decision <\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
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New Gauteng MEC for Finance, Nkululeko Dunga.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The DA and VF Plus have both slammed the appointment of Dunga as MEC for Finance, with the former hitting out at Lesufi for focusing on his own interests and not the party. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This decision by Premier Lesufi will not benefit the residents of Gauteng. It will draw the EFF into the executive, giving him an alliance ahead of the local government elections later this year,” said the DA. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It added that Lesufi’s desperation to push against his own party’s leadership and the Government of National Unity (GNU) is taking him to new heights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It said that Lesufi paid a high price to ensure the ANC’s power in Gauteng and Ekurhuleni. The national ANC executive is working with both the DA and VF Plus in the GNU. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Lesufi\u2019s decision is a clear indication that he cares little about the needs of the residents of this province,” said the DA. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Premier Lesufi should focus on ensuring that all his departments are delivering basic services to our residents and should not, on a whim, decide to change his executive to give one political party its way.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The VF Plus slammed the decision to appoint Dunga, given the controversy surrounding him as the MMC for Finance in Ekurhuleni. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The VF Plus said that he was dismissed in 2024 as MMC for Finance due to poor performance and alleged contraventions of the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Metro failed to submit its 2023 audited financial statements, which resulted in the credit rating agency Moody\u2019s downgrading the Metro to junk status. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It is ironic that while the ANC in Ekurhuleni showed Dunga the door, Lesufi saw it fit to appoint him to this critical position. The province is at risk of following in Ekurhuleni’s footsteps,” said the VF Plus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the appointment will give the GPU a majority of over 50%, the VF Plus said the appointment will bring greater instability to the government and the province.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The EFF now have a role on the Gauteng Provincial Government, with oversight over the province’s finances. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":855908,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[1875,1329,6934,19491,12091],"class_list":["post-855902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-anc","tag-da","tag-eff","tag-rise-mzansi","tag-vf-plus"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=855902"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855902\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":856038,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855902\/revisions\/856038"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/855908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=855902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=855902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=855902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}