The Democratic Alliance (DA) has noted the vast number of commitments made by Premier Oscar Mabuyane in his State of the Province Address in Ntabankulu today.

As the official opposition in the province, we will monitor the rollout of these commitments closely. A number of these commitments were made during his previous term of office but, to date, have failed to materialise.

Making a commitment is one thing. Realising it is quite another!

We applaud the Premier’s commitment to support and work with the Government of National Unity (GNU). We need to echo the GNU call for builders, not breakers or destroyers. We need to be weavers, not vultures.

We welcome the Premier’s call to work together with zeal and determination. To collaborate, innovate, and face challenges together.

We noted that a large portion of the Premier’s speech today focused on the support, intervention and investments provided by the national government, rather than the provincial interventions of his own executive.

Premier Mabuyane also failed to fully acknowledge the realities the province is facing.

While speaking of addressing regulatory and policy impediments to the attraction of investments into the maritime sector, he failed to address the ongoing, significant delays at the Transnet ports, which have a direct impact on the economy.

He spoke of the revised Eastern Cape Education Transformation Plan, investing in school infrastructure, competent school leadership, improved teacher quality, and provision of learning materials in disadvantaged areas.

However, the Department of Education cannot even pay the electricity bills of some schools, such as the Kirkwood High School, which faces closure this week, as their power may be cut due to a bill in excess of a million rand.

Despite the Premier’s commitments to job creation throughout his previous term of office, he has failed dismally to shift the needle. In the first quarter of 2019, the official unemployment rate was 37,4%. In the first quarter of 2024, after five years under Premier Mabuyane’s leadership, the official unemployment rate rose to 42.4%

The expanded rate of unemployment for the province is currently at a staggering 49.1%, meaning half of the entire economically active population in the province is unemployed!

While a thousand jobs created in the energy sector in the East London IDZ is welcomed, as are the 500 jobs created at a call centre in Gqeberha, and the 6000 jobs in road construction, the province shed 77,000 jobs between January and March this year!

The Premier failed to address the elephant in the room, namely the collapse of local government in the province. Our municipalities are in crisis, with 16 of the 39 in financial distress and three out of our six district municipalities under administration.

If we want to build a province for all the people of the Eastern Cape, that creates jobs for our people, we need to start with local government and get our municipalities working again.

We must revive rural economies and strengthen municipal administration.

Our province is at a crossroads. The challenges are immense. We need a government whose resolve is stronger. We need a government that will get things done, and will put the people of this great province first.

The DA as the official opposition in the Eastern Cape Legislature, will fight for the people of this province, by ensuring we hold the executive to account. We will use all the resources available to us, to try turn the tide and ensure a prosperous future for the Eastern Cape.

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