Political parties comment on State of Province Address

Political parties represented in the Provincial Legislature on Tuesday debated Premier Stan Mathabatha’s State-of the-Province Address (Sopa) delivered last Friday during the official opening of the Legislature in Polokwane.
Democratic Alliance
Jacques Smalle, Democratic Alliance Provincial Leader described the address as unin-spiring, failing to map policies, action plans and spending that government plans to embark upon, and to instil confidence.
Smalle disputed the statistics for jobs created in Limpopo. He said the drought played a significant role but found the Premier’s reaction to the drought and assistance to farmers disturbing, as organised agriculture, contributing much to the economy in Limpopo, food security and jobs is not assisted at all.
He said nearly 2,7 million people are exposed to poor quality drinking water and municipalities fare dismally in the ranking of municipalities countrywide. Touching on the Department of Education “that has effectively collapsed the education system in Limpopo” he reiterated that 818 schools in Limpopo not having a reliable supply of electricity, 335 schools no reliable supply of water and over 2 500 schools still using pit latrines. Poor municipal governance and 59,2% of households in Limpopo receiving government grants were other issues Smalle touched on.
Economic Freedom Fighters
Michael Mathebe, Provincial Leader of the official opposition in the province, Economic Freedom Fighters described the Sopa as a rhetoric platform for the Premier to repeat the same things without any tangible achievements on commitments made.
The absence of commitment on how service delivery would be fast-tracked to improve lives of people, underspending on housing as well fruitless and wasteful expenditure of over one billion by the government received scathing comments. Mathebe said problems in local government are compounded by corruption and cadre deployment, resulting in severe skills shortages.
Mathebe said many clinics are not operating 24 hours a day, resulting in people being denied the right to access of health services, exacerbated by shortage of medication, critical equipment and staff. Jobless youths and small-scale farmers being excluded from participating in the formal market process were other gripes. “The Premier has not clarified what steps he took to deal with the cattle corruption scandal involving the MEC for Agriculture and Rural Development and yet said “the fight against corruption remain high on the agenda of government.”
He said the EFF supports the idea of taking care of traditional leaders, but the timing is highly suspicious with upcoming local government elections in mind. Mathabatha will respond to the debate today (Thursday) in the Legislature.

Story: NELIE ERASMUS
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