Premier’s SOPA in brief

MBOMBELA – The Speaker of the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature, Ms Thandi Shongwe, had to call security personnel to remove EFF members from the chamber ahead of the premier’s, Mr David Mabuza, State of the Province Address (Sopa).

Chaos descended on the makeshift chamber after numerous points of order were raised by party leader Mr Collen Sedibe and his colleague Mr Alfred Skhosana. Mabuza’s speech was delayed by a few minutes.

Sedibe raised safety concerns in the presence of safety, security and community liaison MEC, Mr Pat Ngomana, whom he called an “illegal immigrant”. “I can’t be among people who are illegal immigrants. What if they kill me? There is a parliament in Mozambique,” he said.

Sedibe demanded that Ngomana produce a certificate of naturalisation to serve in the provincial cabinet.
Shongwe ruled the matter as irrelevant before calling security personnel.

“You have been raising that matter for two years but it’s not part of today’s proceedings. It’s not in today’s items,” she said.

Violence then erupted between the two parties. EFF members threw water and used water bottles to fight off security.

In 2016 ANC and EFF supporters too clashed outside the provincial legislature.

After ejection from the chamber, Sedibe was arrested for fraud. Details of the case are unknown.

On Thursday he opened seven counts of fraud cases against a variety of MECs and HODs working for the provincial government.

It’s not the first time the EFF was arrested; in January he was arrested alongside other party members for a planned invasion of land. The case was struck off the roll last week.

Guests included minister of police Mr Nathi Mthethwa, local businessman Mr Robert Gumede, minister of intelligence Mr David Mahlobo and minister Mr Siyabonga Cwele.

Mabuza

The premier said the government needed to ask itself if it has done enough to respond to the plight of the poor and those who may feel let down by the current status quo.

“The majority of our people who have remained trapped in poverty have demonstrated remarkable patience, showing that they understand that centuries of structural damage by colonial and successive nationalist apartheid governments cannot be undone in a few decades. We cannot expect them to remain patient forever,” he said.

In his address, Mabuza touched on a number of issues but opposition parties said the premier had nothing new to offer.

• Economy

Mabuza said the government will ensure that the appropriate social-facilitation processes accompany project planning and roll out in order to ensure equal participation by individual service providers.

“We have established a panel of experts from across disciplines in the built environment and we will utilise their expertise in all infrastructure projects to ensure both value for money and quality deliverables.”

He added that the government is investing in various social and economic infrastructure projects, which in the year under review has amounted to more than R2 billion.

“We have finished the reconstruction of 16 road projects totalling 284 kilometres. We have upgraded 74 kilometres of gravel roads in highly populated rural areas and completed the blading of 10 644 kilometres of municipal roads.”

Mabuza added that the provincial economy has created 130 000 jobs over the past five years achieving approximately 36 per cent of the annual job-creation target which was due to dull economic growth.

• Land reform, rural development and agriculture

Mabuza said the government’s land-reform programme needed to be anchored to its agenda of growing the agricultural sector for both domestic consumption and exports to international markets.

He added that it was important to focus on agriculture as one of the key sectors to drive industrial development and job creation.

“The establishment of the International Fresh Produce Market remains our critical lever to stimulate increased agricultural production to supply the domestic and international market,” Mabuza said.

In March the government will host a provincial land summit to discuss pertinent policies and issues affecting the land-reform programme.

• Growing the tourism industry

Mabuza said the government was pursuing the nomination of the Barberton Makhonjwa World Heritage Site.

He said the draft nomination dossier was submitted to Unesco in September 2016.

“I am pleased to announce a new public-private-partnership tourism venture, between Graskop Gorge Lift company and the National Empowerment Fund.”

He also said as part of promoting Mpumalanga as a destination of choice, the government has launched a Convention Bureau to attract and host major international events, conferences and exhibitions.

“We will need to complement this initiative with a clear strategy on international air routes, and target specific lines to fly directly to our province. The City of Mbombela must pursue with vigour the issue of building an international convention centre and at least attracting one top brand hotel.”

• Youth development

According to Mabuza, the youth are agitated because they have the energy but yet are trapped in the shackles of unemployment and poverty, hence they fall prey to the social ills that go hand in hand with deprivation.

“We are further collaborating with the private sector and SETAs to ensure that young people are exposed to business and employment-creation programmes across a number of sectors.”

He said in the 2017/18 period, Eskom will continue to work with its partners in the Nkangala District Municipality to contribute R36 million towards the Siyasebenza Job Creation Initiative which is predicted to create 900 jobs.

“Over and above our efforts to improve our education system, we will continue with a programmatic response to youth unemployment and social exclusion that is premised on targeted skills-development programmes to enhance youth participation in productive economic activities.”

• Health

The premier said healthcare in the province has long been fraught with allegations of mismanagement, neglect and poor performance.

“In the past these have negatively impacted on our citizens’ right to accessing quality healthcare and by extension have obstructed both their social and economic aspirations. The burdens of TB, HIV/Aids and maternal and child mortality have in particular wrought havoc in the day-to-day lives of our communities,” said Mabuza.

He mentioned that the government has put increased pressure on the department to ensure that it turns the situation around.

“When we assess the progress made in respect of the turnaround strategy, we can confidently say that the department is moving towards a better resourced and more professional institution.”

Mabuza said through the partnership with Cuba and Russia, this year the provincial government has provided 10 bursaries for 10 medical students.

“In 2016 we made 1 401 appointments to bolster human resources across our health-facility network, ranging from medical doctors and specialised nurses, pharmacists, groundsmen and cleaners.”

• Securing communities and fighting crime

Mabuza said in the fight against crime, the first priority will be gender-based violence and crime against children.

“Fighting crime and addressing social ills requires a collaborative and appropriately resourced effort. Through the Department of Community Safety, Security and Liaison we are working with the SAPS and other agencies to ensure that we intervene in a holistic fashion to these challenges,” he said.

The premier added that the government’s efforts in fighting crime will be guided by the crime statistics, by the SAPS.

“These will enable us to determine which serious crimes need immediate attention and where they are most pervasive. These factors are a factor for mushrooming informal settlements, illicit mining activity and the illegal sale of liquor to minors.”