Premier Oscar Mabuyane’s commitment to work with the official opposition in the Eastern Cape Legislature and others has set a collaborative tone for the seventh administration.
This follows after the Democratic Alliance used the State of the Province Address debates yesterday to highlight legitimate issues facing the people of our province, and called on Premier Mabuyane to implement real, workable solutions.
Mabuyane said it was quite clear to him that there was a willingness amongst political parties to set aside partisan politics and find common ground on issues of importance to the province.
Mabuyane committed to hosting an economic turnaround summit for the Eastern Cape, as I raised in the debates yesterday so that all stakeholders in this province can address our challenges.
Responding to the call for placing the Department of Health under administration, Premier Mabuyane admitted that there were challenges but said previous experience with the Department of Education had shown administration was not always successful. He said several interventions were already in place and that his administration would be willing to listen to constructive proposals from the opposition.
Most importantly, and what is a historical moment in the Legislature, was the commitment from Premier Mabuyane to work together,
“I feel like we don’t have a GNU, but we should work together, GNU or no GNU, and if we do that, our people in the province will be served,” Mabuyane said.
The DA’s approach has also opened the door to a conducive environment for incorporating our ideas, views and solutions to the challenges in the Eastern Cape.
I once again confirm that the DA, as the official opposition, is committed to working with the Premier, to engage with him and his executive, to offer our ideas and solutions to the myriad challenges our people face, while fulfilling our duty in holding the executive to account.
This is how we move the Eastern Cape forward and ensure that we play a role in bringing that change to our people.
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