Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi has taken tough action taken against departmental heads following the release of a damning forensic report revealing that at least R1.8 billion in budget underspending and missed service delivery targets in the province.

On Sunday, Lesufi addressed the media on the outcomes of the recently concluded a set of forensic investigation reports, which have been finalised by the Provincial Forensic Audit Unit. This latest release follows an earlier briefing held on 24 June 2025, where the Premier made public the outcomes of 47 forensic reports.  

“On the 17th of July, I responded to matters from our ethical council that responded to members or heads of departments who could not finish or conclude their lifestyle audits. I also indicated on the 17th of July that there were departments that underspent seriously. The total underspending at the time was R1.8 billion. It has now gone to R1.3 billion after the authorisation of some of the transactions that we requested be carried over. To me, this was a serious underspending by heads of departments. Some departments have missed their departmental performance targets, and we took serious exception,” he said.

Lesufi said some of the reasons are due to service delivery challenges, and as a result, he has acted to ensure that this does not continue.

“With the serious challenges of service delivery, we cannot afford departments that are missing their targets. We also found some audit outcomes, which indicated that some departments are not performing ideally. Within that context, I have decided to reshuffle and reset heads of departments and remove other heads of departments from their responsibilities. From the 1st of August,” he stated.

Responding to Lesufi, the DA Provincial Chief Whip in the  Gauteng Legislature, Mike Moriarty stated: “Our experience is that this Premier has the habit of creating positive spin to cover failure. For example, he refers to having previously issued 47 such reports, and now he is following this up with others.

“The fact is, we have examined those previous reports, and indeed, they only relate to 37 cases and not the 47 that he claims. Moreover, these reports are heavily redacted and convey no information as regards people implicated therein and give no details regarding the disciplinary and criminal consequences that should have arisen in this case.”

Lesufi said the affected changes and reshuffle to HODs and other personnel, include e-government, infrastructure, education, treasury, COGTA, transport, human settlements, agriculture, environmental development, education, health, among others.

“I am pleased that I have appointed a new HOD for the Department of Economic Development, Mr Matlatjo Moholwa, who brings a wealth of experience into public service. He has served as part of economic research and chief economist in the City of Johannesburg and the lead economist for the Land Bank, and Deputy Director General in Mpumalanga and the Gauteng Department of Economic Development. With the challenges that we are going to have with the US in terms of the tariffs, and the need for us to reposition the economy of Gauteng, we needed a chief economist to lead us in this department,” he stated.

siyabonga.sithole@inl.co.za

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