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Premiers for all the provinces except KwaZulu-Natal have been elected.
In Gauteng, African National Congress (ANC) provincial secretary Thembinkosi Nciza says they engaged all parties in the province during negotiations which have seen Panyaza Lesufi re-elected unopposed as Premier.
He was commenting following the election of Lesufi as Premier and Audrey Mosupyoe as Speaker.
Nciza says the negotiations were not easy.
“Look, it has not been an easy journey, I must say. Negotiations in their nature are not easy. The people of South Africa and the people of Gauteng, took a decision that there would not be a party which is a majority party. That’s the first issue.”
“The decision of the voters must be respected. So, when we started engaging all parties, it’s not like we were doing a fishing parade. That’s what the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the ANC would have said, go and engage all parties, which we agree with. And we did that very well, except two parties would have said we’re not interested,” adds Nciza.
Below is the proceedings of today’s sitting