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Lesufi and DA clash over Gauteng crime fight
Protest at the Premier’s office
Tensions over safety in Gauteng boiled over this week as the Democratic Alliance marched to Premier Panyaza Lesufi’s office, accusing him of failing to deliver on his promises of a safer province. Led by provincial chairperson Solly Msimanga, the DA handed over a memorandum that painted a bleak picture of Gauteng’s 144 police stations, many of which the party claims are under-resourced, understaffed, and struggling with broken infrastructure.
Msimanga told supporters that while Lesufi calls crime his “apex priority,” residents still live with spiralling crime rates and police stations unable to cope. The DA wants urgent fixes, from repairing holding cells to increasing police staff and expanding the number of vehicles on the road.
Lesufi defends his record
Premier Lesufi hit back, accusing the DA of “crying at the wrong funeral.” He pointed to recent investments by his administration, including more than 700 vehicles delivered to SAPS and 12,000 CCTV cameras being installed across Gauteng. His office argued that these interventions are already showing results, citing a 7.9% drop in crime in the first quarter of 2025.
Lesufi’s spokesperson, Vuyo Mhaga, dismissed the DA’s protest as political theatre. He argued that the DA knows very well that SAPS is a national competency and that issues of resourcing must be addressed at the level of the Government of National Unity, where the DA itself is a member. “Instead of raising these matters at Cabinet, they have chosen the easy option of protesting outside the Premier’s office,” Mhaga said.
The numbers on the table
According to provincial police commissioner Lt General Elias Mawela Mthombeni, Gauteng has re-arrested more than 1,000 of its most wanted criminals in 2025, while municipalities across the province have signed joint agreements with law enforcement and private security firms to strengthen cooperation. These, Lesufi’s office argues, are the kind of results that prove his administration is serious about tackling crime.
The bigger fight over policing powers
The DA, however, insists that real change will only come if policing powers are devolved from national to provincial government. Msimanga has called for Lesufi to push harder for this shift while also hiring more police and ensuring stations are properly resourced.
For Gauteng residents, this debate is more than just political point-scoring. With violent crime continuing to cast a shadow over communities from Johannesburg to Tshwane, the tug-of-war between the DA and the ANC-led provincial government highlights the urgency of delivering safety that people can actually feel in their daily lives.
Also read: ANCYL hits out at McKenzie and Holomisa: ‘Not leadership material’
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Source: IOL
Featured Image: The Mail & Guardian
