Opposition blasts Western Cape Premier Winde for repeating ‘same old, same old’ story

2 Aug 2024

Members of the Western Cape Legislature criticised Premier Alan Winde’s opening address for repeating yesterday’s success story. Winde hit back by giving an update on efforts to address safety and security, flooding and infrastructure issues.

When Western Cape Premier Alan Winde delivered his opening of the provincial legislature speech on Wednesday, he touched on a wide range of issues without providing much detail. Members of the provincial parliament (MPPs) criticised this lack of detail during the debate about Winde’s speech on Thursday.

Patriotic Alliance (PA) member Bazil Petrus said Winde had not spoken about new projects and his speech was a case of “same old, same old”.

The Economic Freedom Fighters’ (EFF’s) Aishah Cassiem said, “We were really hoping that the premier would firstly give us an update on all projects and promises that he introduced in his first term, but he stood here yesterday bragging over a whole lot of nothing.

Read more: Five takeaways from Alan Winde’s opening of the provincial legislature address

‘‘The premier spoke about storms, he spoke about disasters but he forgot to mention one of the most important things … the disaster of the Cape Flats and other parts of the province — drugs, gangsterism and crime.

“He only mentioned a few sentences related to crime. There is nothing about technology and how he plans to address the root cause of the crime.’’

On Wednesday, Winde highlighted the success of the Law Enforcement Advancement Plan (Leap) with more than 34,000 arrests. This met with fierce criticism on Thursday.

Brett Herron of the Good party expressed his concern about escalating violence in the province.

“Yesterday, the premier claimed that the safety plan was succeeding, but tell that to the people whose children and loved ones are dying in the killing fields of the Cape Flats every day and every night,” said Herron.

“Claiming 34,000 arrests as an indicator of success is a deflection from the murder rate that has gone up since the safety plan was implemented.”

Flooding

The Western Cape grappled with severe weather conditions throughout July, which caused widespread flooding, road closures and infrastructure damage. Many people were rendered homeless.

Read more: Cape of Storms

The EFF’s Thozama Lithakong said, “The recent storms, which continue to affect the province on an annual basis, have eroded our public infrastructure … the service delivery response from the DA government does not equate to the loss suffered.”

Grant Marais of the Freedom Front Plus (FF+) said, “Provisions should be made. A state of disaster must never be seen to have caught us unaware and unprepared again such as in the case of Citrusdal — the second time a disaster strikes and then a third time.”

Budget

On Wednesday, Winde voiced his concerns over the mid-year budget cuts by the National Treasury. The education, healthcare and social development sectors bear the brunt of these cuts, leaving the most vulnerable members of society disproportionately affected.

Echoing Winde’s concerns, fellow members of the legislature demanded explanations.

Duwayne Jacobs from the National Coloured Congress (NCC) claimed that coloured communities had been excluded from the budget.

“Explain to us, why this government won’t spend money available in the coloured communities.’’

Read more: Western Cape declares intergovernmental dispute with Treasury over rising public sector wage bill

Premier’s response

Responding to Marais’ claim that the province wasn’t prepared for the inclement weather, Winde said they had the best task team on the continent to respond to disaster efficiently.

He added, “But of course we can also invest more and we are busy with the process now, as I said yesterday.”

In a heated exchange, Winde responded to criticisms from the EFF’s Lithakong by reminding her of the EFF’s role in the Knysna Municipality.

Read more: ‘When two elephants fight, it’s the grass that suffers — and Knysna is the grass’

“You must always think about yourself when you are in government, and you know when you were in government of the province in Knysna. Let’s talk about rubbish removal and services and sewage running through the streets…

“Let’s talk about water and dead bodies in the reservoir system. Let’s not talk about stealing the amount of money that’s disappeared. You must remember that you’re also in government and you must be responsible.’’

Winde then shifted the focus to the present, promising to visit the areas affected by flooding that Lithakong had mentioned earlier.

Read more: Knysna Municipality must adopt service delivery report or face intervention — Alan Winde

The premier responded to Jacobs about the lack of spending in coloured communities by saying, “You are obviously a nationalist party and we fought nationalism in our country a long time ago, and we don’t need to go back there, but you must be here representing what you got voted in for. If you have ideas, I look forward to those inputs from your party.” DM

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Flooding

Budget

Premier’s response