Cape Town - With elections in less than two weeks, and possibly the final meeting of his provincial executive, Premier Alan Winde presented what he refers to as the “WCG Record of Delivery” – a list of accomplishments his administration has made over the past five years.
But the DA’s opponents inside and outside the provincial legislature have poured cold water on the report, pointing to specific failures of Winde’s administration.
One of the boasts in the report was that the Western Cape’s unemployment was the lowest in South Africa at 20.3%.
“Unemployment dropped by 2.2 percentage points from the fourth quarter of 2022 to the fourth quarter of 2023, which was the biggest decrease in South Africa, and employment increased by 161 000 jobs, or 6.2% year-on-year,” reads the report.
On housing, the Western Cape government is planning and investing heavily in infrastructure development to meet the needs of a growing population. The Conradie Housing Project is on track for completion. The 3 500unit mixed-use development includes both social and subsidised housing, with social facilities such as schools.
On water, the report stated that “over the term, the Western Cape Government allocated R76 million towards water security and water resilience. These projects varied from the development of new sources of water supply to the upgrading of bulk water infrastructure and enhanced water governance practices, as well as geohydrological services.”
ANC Western Cape Provincial spokesperson Khalid Sayed said the document is yet another weak attempt by the DA-led Western Cape government to create the impression that it has an impeccable record of delivery during the 6th administration.
He said: “Residents have themselves confirmed the white supremacist and racist bias of the DA’s service delivery – the tale of two cities where 83% of the black and poor majority of the province is ignored.
“The DA government cannot deny the lack of delivery to underprivileged communities, so it chooses to ignore this reality. A more accurate record of the DA’s record of delivery, or rather lack of delivery, is contained in the written and oral submissions on the Western Cape Powers Bill.”
Lumka Mquqo, Build One South Africa (Bosa Western Cape premier candidate), said: “What does this government do with its failure to deliver services, sewage pouring through the streets, potholes and pit latrines, and waste pile-ups? They have served in the Western Cape provincial administration for 15 years! However, they want you to assume it has just been 15 minutes. We continue to hear the same excuses from them. They blame the national government.”
She said: “But they’ve had trillions of rand in public cash throughout the years. Every year, they pass a local and provincial budget totalling billions of rand. Where has everything gone? And who benefited? You can tell from this report that it was not for the poor or marginalised.”
Angela Sobey, ActionSA Western Cape premier candidate, said her party believes that a key indicator of the Western Cape government’s mediocre performance over the past five years can be found in the crime statistics. Since 2020/2021 to 2022/2023, murder is up by 6.9%, robbery by 23%, and drug-related crime by 50.2%.
Cape Argus