Pine Pienaar, DA Chief Whip in the legislature, greets MPL PJ Mnguni of the ANC, before the commencement of Tuesday’s debate on the State of the Province Address.

Mr Speaker,

As we embark on yet another year in this Legislature I cannot help but to think about leadership.

In essence, the work we do in this chamber is about leading the Province of the Eastern Cape.

To achieve greatness and success, we need to have great leaders. We need to follow in the footsteps of the great leaders of our past: ¬the ones who dedicated their lives to bettering the lives of all South Africans.

Dacre Haddon MPL (second, left) with some of his guests from the Amathole constituency who attended the State of the Province Address on Friday, 17 February. They are, from the left, cllr Josephine Kaniye, Fort Hare DA Youth representative Busisiwe Mqamela and cllr Julia Gxalaba.

Somlomo,Nkulumbuso, abaphathiswa bePhondo,amalungu eNdlu

iNdwendwe zethu, Ndini bulisa egameni le-DA!

Honourable Speaker, this speech will focus on two areas – namely that of job creation using Economic Development Partnerships, and issues regarding Local Government reports .

Madam Premier we congratulate you on your State of the Province Speech.

The initiatives such as the Strategic Skills Project, the Youth projects for the unemployed and the provincial “Jobs” programme are welcomed.

 Speaker, the urgent challenge facing South Africa and the province today is poverty.

Everything we do as politicians must be focussed towards creating opportunity for sustainable job creation.

There needs to be decisive and courageous leadership to make this happen.

There are two main economic drivers that create sustainable employment in any provincial economy.

The first of these is the creation of infrastructure growth involving financing and skills partnering with the private sector.

John Cupido MPL (right) in the Raymond Mhlaba chamber at the Bhisho Legislature.

Honourable Speaker,Madam Premier, Members of the House, Guests of the House…

Year on year the State of the Province Address states some of the successes, the explanatory challenges and makes promises of better things to come… this year is no different.

As I become a more experienced Member of Parliament, I learn not only to listen to what is being said, but also, and more importantly, what is not being said.

Edmund van Vuuren, MPL, with his Community Operations Manager for his constituency, Port Elizabeth North, Ingrid van Wyk, at the debate on the State of theProvince Address in Bhisho on Tuesday.

Honourable Speaker, Honourable Premier, Members of the Executive, Members of the Legislature, officials of the Department of Education, dignitaries and visitors present, allow me, on behalf of the Democratic Alliance to warmly greet you this afternoon.

Honourable Speaker, as members of the Portfolio committee on Education, we have visited certain schools in this vast rural Province of us and have diligently compiled a comprehensive report reflecting the challenges as well as successes. We have also made recommendations which the Department of Education will finally assimilate and hopefully this time around implement without delay. Honourable Speaker, I do not want to dwell on the report as it contains the findings of this multiparty committee, but as the Democratic Alliance we would like to see that the recommendations contained in this report to be adopted as House resolutions, thus legally enforcing compliance.

MPL Veliswa Mvenya with Mr. Mgebhuzo in a symbolic gesture of exchanging his ANC-T-shirt with a DA one at the party’s launch of a branch in Ward 20 of Nyandeni Municipality in the former Transkei.

MPL Veliswa Mvenya travelled to Ngqeleni Village in the former Transkei on 20 February to welcome the local ANC branch chairperson to the DA with his people in Ward 20.

More than 150 signed up members were present and Mvenya and her team left another membership book behind which was being filled with more members.  Mr. Mgebhuzo, chairperson on the ANC branch there, who was wearing his ANC T-shirt, made a symbolic gesture by exchanging it for a DA-shirt on.