Shayne Welman of Three Rivers writes:
The ANC in Gauteng never misses a chance to claim achievements it did not deliver.
Its latest attempt, claiming credit for the Rhodesfield Engineering School of Specialisation’s aviation programme and the delivery of a passenger jet, is nothing short of political theft.
Here are the facts. The decommissioned Embraer 135 was donated by Airlink, a private airline, not by the ANC. Paramount Group donated a Mirage V airframe. The school itself was launched in 2018 by the Gauteng Department of Education, paid for with taxpayer money, not party funds. Every salary, classroom, and facility is funded from the provincial budget. The ANC’s only contribution has been spin and slogans.
This is a well-worn tactic:
collapse the line between party and state, spend taxpayer money, then parade the results as gifts from Luthuli House. Premier Panyaza Lesufi has perfected the smoke-and-mirrors routine—cutting ribbons, invoking revolution, and carefully omitting the truth: the credit belongs to the public and private partners, not the ANC.
Why does this matter?
Because words shape reality. By rebranding taxpayer-funded projects as ANC victories, thetrue contributors, ordinary South Africans and private companies, are erased. And while Rhodesfield is showcased, the many schools across Gauteng that remain unfinished, unsafe, or overcrowded are conveniently ignored.
The bottom line is simple: the Rhodesfield aviation success belongs to the people of Gauteng and its private sector partners.
It is not, and never will be, an achievement of the ANC. When the ANC crow about aviation, engineering, or education, remember, the only thing it truly delivered was another lie.