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The African National Congress (ANC) in Gauteng has handed control of the provincial treasury to the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), in practice securing a legislative majority, and placing a R150 billion budget in the hands of a politician it removed from a smaller municipal finance post two years ago.

That is in practice the effect and objective behind the appointment of Nkululeko Dunga as Finance MEC in Gauteng, announced by Premier Panyaza Lesufi on 1 April 2026.

Dunga is the EFF’s Gauteng chairperson and its most senior leader in the province. His experience in public finance is limited to his tenure as Ekurhuleni’s finance MMC from November 2022 to June 2024.

Dunga’s tenure in Ekurhuleni was controversial. In October 2023, he was injured in a fatal multi-vehicle crash on the R21 near OR Tambo International Airport in a convoy vehicle owned by businessman Motlatsi Thomas Moloi, whose companies held contracts with the City of Ekurhuleni during Dunga’s tenure. The vehicle was allegedly fitted with blue lights, prompting a criminal complaint, and questions about conflicts of interest, and the declaration of benefits.

His ascension to the finance post was necessary for the ANC in the province to in practice secure a governing coalition.

The Gauteng legislature has 80 seats, meaning that 41 are required for a majority. The ANC holds 28 seats, the EFF 11, the Patriotic Alliance 2, the Inkatha Freedom Party 1, and Rise Mzansi 1. Together, that grouping totals 43 seats.

Until Dunga’s appointment as finance MEC, the ANC essentially governed Gauteng as a minority government. Dunga’s appointment has in practise brought the EFF into the government, allowing the ANC to preside over a majority coalition.

After the 2024 election, the ANC at a national level entered a Government of National Unity (GNU) with the Democratic Alliance (DA), and other parties, at national level. In Gauteng, that arrangement was not replicated. Negotiations with the DA broke down, with reporting at the time indicating that the ANC provincial leadership would not concede key positions.

It is widely understood that Gauteng is an rebel ANC province and that its leadership believes the national GNU transaction with the DA to be a strategic mistake. The provincial ANC has gone to great lengths to pioneer an alternative pact with the EFF and is working towards drawing the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) into that agreement. The purpose is to demonstrate that such an alternative unity government is a viable option and that the national ANC can afford to break up the existing GNU and instead adopt the EFF and MKP as national coalition partners.

Naive observers would find the appointment of Dunga to be odd, given his recent record in public office. The ANC in Ekurhuleni previously worked to remove him from the finance post in that city, on the grounds of “fundamental weaknesses” in the handling of the budget process, and pointed to the deteriorating financial position. At the time of his removal, the city had failed to pass a budget, and reporting indicated chaos in the management of municipal finances.

Less naive observers would understand the strategic importance of the political pact behind the new agreement, and also its potential to shield possibly corrupt actors from scrutiny

The finance portfolio in Gauteng is one of the largest subnational fiscal roles in the country. The province accounts for roughly a third of South Africa’s economic output. The Finance MEC oversees a provincial budget of between R150 billion to R160 billion, allocating spending across health, education, policing, and infrastructure.

During Dunga’s tenure as finance MMC in Ekurhuleni, the city’s budget was in the region of R70 billion to R80 billion.

Polling published by The Common Sense and the Social Research Foundation indicates that Gauteng's moves to establish an EFF-MK-ANC coalition is at odds with what voters want.

Among ANC voters, poll data shows that 49% prefer a coalition with the DA, compared with 19% for the MKP, and 11% for the EFF.

In Johannesburg, 71% of all voters said that if no party won a majority, the ANC and DA should govern together, a view shared by 82% of ANC voters in that city.

There are two important takes from the Dunga decision.

First is that it sets a precedent for what may happen at a national level – see our editorial this week on what would happen in South Africa if the existing GNU collapsed.

Second is that the ANC is polling very badly in both Gauteng and in Johannesburg. That is chiefly a consequence of living standards of ANC voters having stagnated. The coalition the provincial government has now assembled cannot possibly restore the investor confidence necessary to change that, meaning that ANC support in the province and its metros must necessarily remain under pressure.