Mashaba Questions ANC Members After Panyaza Lesufi Shares Video Clip Of DA Leader Cilliers Brink

ActionSA president Herman Mashaba has questioned how African National Congress members feel about Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi sharing a video featuring Democratic Alliance representative Cilliers Brink.

The clip outlines the DA’s reasons for entering the Government of National Unity after the 2024 national election. In it, Brink describes the party’s stated aim of influencing policy towards economic growth, private ownership, the rule of law and non-racialism, while preventing an ANC-EFF alliance.

Mashaba’s reaction centres on the apparent political contrast between the DA’s position in the GNU and Lesufi’s decision to share the video. His question invites ANC members to consider whether they are comfortable with a senior party figure circulating a message explaining the DA’s role and objectives in the national coalition.

Lesufi is both Gauteng premier and a senior ANC leader in the province. His sharing of the clip does not, on its own, establish that he endorses every position expressed by Brink or that he supports the DA’s broader political programme. The material, however, has prompted a public response from Mashaba, who drew attention to the potential implications for the ANC’s supporters and members.

The GNU was formed after the 2024 election, when no party secured an outright majority in the National Assembly. The DA joined the coalition alongside the ANC and other parties, creating a governing arrangement that brought former electoral opponents into the same national administration.

Brink’s explanation, as described in the video, presents the DA’s participation as a way to shape government policy and prevent a different political arrangement involving the ANC and EFF. The video therefore touches on both the policy differences between the parties and the calculations behind coalition-making.

Mashaba’s intervention adds to ongoing discussion about the GNU, the relationship between coalition partners and the political choices facing the ANC. His question shifts attention from the video’s policy arguments to the response within the ANC, where members may have differing views about the party’s cooperation with the DA and the premier’s decision to share the clip.

The episode also highlights how social media posts and shared videos can become part of broader political debate. A short clip can communicate a party’s rationale for joining a coalition, while the act of sharing it can itself attract scrutiny and interpretation.

For now, the central issue raised by Mashaba is how ANC members view Lesufi’s action. The exchange underscores tensions and competing perspectives around the GNU, the ANC’s alliances and the political direction of the governing arrangement.

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