Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi set to deliver State of the Province Address

Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi is set to deliver the State of the Province Address (SOPA) on Monday.

It is an annual event where the premier looks back on government’s performance in the past year and outlines future objectives. 

This year’s edition will take place at the Nasrec Expo Centre in Johannesburg, which the speech expected to start around 6pm.  

One of the consistent calls in Lesufi's previous three addresses; is for the military to be deployed in the region to fight Zama Zamas.

That’s no longer an issue as the president has already signed off on it. 

Lesufi also used the SOPA to announce the Gauteng government’s temporary work initiatives for unemployed young people.

However, Lesufi was left with egg on his face last year after the Gauteng crime prevention wardens programme unofficially known as Amapanyaza was deemed unlawfully constituted by the Public Protector.

The DA in Gauteng, which is the official opposition, has urged the premier to drop what it calls his "pie-in-the-sky" ideas and focus more on the basics of provincial government. 

Meanwhile, the uMkhonto weSizwe Party is planning to march from Soweto to the Nasrec Expo Centre where it will demonstrate against the event, which it calls useless and a platform for empty promises.