{"id":95774,"date":"2026-02-12T09:17:58","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T09:17:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/residents-threaten-anc-punishment-over-lesufi-water-blunder"},"modified":"2026-02-12T10:53:45","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T10:53:45","slug":"residents-threaten-anc-punishment-over-lesufi-water-blunder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/residents-threaten-anc-punishment-over-lesufi-water-blunder","title":{"rendered":"Residents Threaten ANC Punishment Over Lesufi Water Blunder"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>Some disgruntled 702 listeners have threatened to punish the African National Congress (ANC) at the polls at the upcoming local government elections after Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi\u2019s water blunder.<\/p>\n<p>During a press briefing to address the persistent water challenges in parts of Johannesburg on Wednesday, Lesufi tried to allay frustrations by telling journalists he is equally inconvenienced by ageing infrastructure and system constraints.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI also experience water shortages, and in certain instances, I had to go to a certain hotel so that I could bathe and go to my commitments. We also go through the same inconvenience like any other person &#8211; there&#8217;s not special water or a special time that is designed to service other people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He later apologised in a one-page statement on his X account, where he said he regrets the impression his comments gave, adding he is not immune to the frustration of water shortages.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the turnabout, Lesufi\u2019s comments have since been met with outrage, with affected residents accusing Lesufi of being tone deaf.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPanyaza speaks from a place of privilege. We are here today because of the ANC. Thank you so much, Panyaza. We&#8217;ll see you at the ballot box,\u201d said one resident.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI thought he was the intelligent one, he&#8217;s going to turn things around, but Panyaza you are just like all of them. Mr Lesufi, I hope you know we&#8217;re going to vote,\u201d said another.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think Panyaza&#8217;s apology\/explanation is almost as bad as the original statement itself. What people are miffed about is the fact that he appears to rub his privilege in people&#8217;s faces,\u201d another said.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">South-Africa<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; South-Africa. Some disgruntled 702 listeners have threatened to punish the African National Congress (ANC) at the polls at the upcoming local government elections after Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi\u2019s water blunder. During a press briefing to address the persistent water challenges in parts of Johannesburg on Wednesday, Lesufi tried to allay frustrations by telling [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":95773,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[275],"class_list":["post-95774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Residents Threaten ANC Punishment Over Lesufi Water Blunder - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Some disgruntled 702 listeners have threatened to punish the African National Congress (ANC) at the polls at the upcomin ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/residents-threaten-anc-punishment-over-lesufi-water-blunder\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Residents Threaten ANC Punishment Over Lesufi Water Blunder\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Some disgruntled 702 listeners have threatened to punish the African National Congress (ANC) at the polls at the upcomin ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/residents-threaten-anc-punishment-over-lesufi-water-blunder\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-12T09:17:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-12T10:53:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2026\/02\/sm_1770880909.261828.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/residents-threaten-anc-punishment-over-lesufi-water-blunder#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/residents-threaten-anc-punishment-over-lesufi-water-blunder\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Residents Threaten ANC Punishment Over Lesufi Water Blunder\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-12T09:17:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-12T10:53:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/residents-threaten-anc-punishment-over-lesufi-water-blunder\"},\"wordCount\":294,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/residents-threaten-anc-punishment-over-lesufi-water-blunder#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2026\/02\/sm_1770880909.261828.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"South-Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/residents-threaten-anc-punishment-over-lesufi-water-blunder#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/residents-threaten-anc-punishment-over-lesufi-water-blunder\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/residents-threaten-anc-punishment-over-lesufi-water-blunder\",\"name\":\"Residents Threaten ANC Punishment Over Lesufi Water Blunder - South Africa\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/residents-threaten-anc-punishment-over-lesufi-water-blunder#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/residents-threaten-anc-punishment-over-lesufi-water-blunder#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2026\/02\/sm_1770880909.261828.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-12T09:17:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-12T10:53:45+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"Some disgruntled 702 listeners have threatened to punish the African National Congress (ANC) at the polls at the upcomin ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/residents-threaten-anc-punishment-over-lesufi-water-blunder#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/residents-threaten-anc-punishment-over-lesufi-water-blunder\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/residents-threaten-anc-punishment-over-lesufi-water-blunder#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2026\/02\/sm_1770880909.261828.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2026\/02\/sm_1770880909.261828.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630,\"caption\":\"Residents Threaten ANC Punishment Over Lesufi Water Blunder\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/residents-threaten-anc-punishment-over-lesufi-water-blunder#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Residents Threaten ANC Punishment Over Lesufi Water Blunder\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/\",\"name\":\"South Africa\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Residents Threaten ANC Punishment Over Lesufi Water Blunder - South Africa","description":"Some disgruntled 702 listeners have threatened to punish the African National Congress (ANC) at the polls at the upcomin ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/residents-threaten-anc-punishment-over-lesufi-water-blunder","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Residents Threaten ANC Punishment Over Lesufi Water Blunder","og_description":"Some disgruntled 702 listeners have threatened to punish the African National Congress (ANC) at the polls at the upcomin ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/residents-threaten-anc-punishment-over-lesufi-water-blunder","og_site_name":"South Africa","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2026-02-12T09:17:58+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-02-12T10:53:45+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2026\/02\/sm_1770880909.261828.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/residents-threaten-anc-punishment-over-lesufi-water-blunder#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/residents-threaten-anc-punishment-over-lesufi-water-blunder"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Residents Threaten ANC Punishment Over Lesufi Water Blunder","datePublished":"2026-02-12T09:17:58+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-12T10:53:45+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/residents-threaten-anc-punishment-over-lesufi-water-blunder"},"wordCount":294,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/residents-threaten-anc-punishment-over-lesufi-water-blunder#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2026\/02\/sm_1770880909.261828.jpg","keywords":["South-Africa"],"articleSection":["all news","policy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/residents-threaten-anc-punishment-over-lesufi-water-blunder#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/residents-threaten-anc-punishment-over-lesufi-water-blunder","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/residents-threaten-anc-punishment-over-lesufi-water-blunder","name":"Residents Threaten ANC Punishment Over Lesufi Water Blunder - South Africa","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/residents-threaten-anc-punishment-over-lesufi-water-blunder#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/residents-threaten-anc-punishment-over-lesufi-water-blunder#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2026\/02\/sm_1770880909.261828.jpg","datePublished":"2026-02-12T09:17:58+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-12T10:53:45+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"Some disgruntled 702 listeners have threatened to punish the African National Congress (ANC) at the polls at the upcomin ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/residents-threaten-anc-punishment-over-lesufi-water-blunder#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/residents-threaten-anc-punishment-over-lesufi-water-blunder"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/residents-threaten-anc-punishment-over-lesufi-water-blunder#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2026\/02\/sm_1770880909.261828.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2026\/02\/sm_1770880909.261828.jpg","width":1200,"height":630,"caption":"Residents Threaten ANC Punishment Over Lesufi Water Blunder"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/residents-threaten-anc-punishment-over-lesufi-water-blunder#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Residents Threaten ANC Punishment Over Lesufi Water Blunder"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/","name":"South Africa","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95774"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95774\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95773"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}