State of the Province Address: The issues Premier Alan Winde is expected to tackle
What are the pressing issues that Premier Alan Winde’s State of the Province Address (SOPA) will have to address on Wednesday?
According to opposition parties, and local organisations, he will have to prioritise better service delivery, improved safety, housing but also anti-gender-based violence initiatives.
Winde will deliver his SOPA on the 26th of February in the town of Beaufort West, outlining the Western Cape Government’s plans for the year ahead and reflecting on its achievements over the past year.
Opposition parties have shared Winde to confront the “urgent failures that continue to undermine the safety, security, and dignity of its residents”.
GOOD Secretary-General, Brett Herron said that lofty promises “will no longer suffice, people deserve real, tangible action”.
“The Western Cape’s multi-billion-rand Safety Plan, designed to halve the murder rate in ten years, is at its halfway mark. Yet, from 2019 to 2024, the murder rate has surged by 14.32%. Despite massive financial investment and years of political rhetoric, communities remain under siege by violent crime.
“There are only five years left for this plan to deliver on its promise, yet crime statistics continue to rise. If the murder rate is increasing, not falling, then the plan is failing. People deserve answers, accountability, and real solutions,” Herron said.
He added that too often state-owned land is hoarded, mismanaged, or sold off to the highest bidder.
“Public land must be used for public good, this means affordable housing, well-located schools, and essential services that serve communities, not private developers. The unresolved battles over the Tafelberg Site, Woodstock Hospital, and Helen Bowden Nurses Home, highlight a provincial government unwilling to act decisively on spatial justice.”
Leader of the opposition in the legislature, ANC’s Khalid Sayed said that they are demanding action and not theatrics. He said that the premier should prioritise fixing local government, and ensuring better service delivery as the DA-led provincial government “has played a direct role in destabilizing municipalities, leading to governance collapse in many areas”.
“The people of the Western Cape deserve functional municipalities that work for them, not against them.”
He added that he hopes Winde adopts inclusive economic growth and job creation interventions, builds social cohesion and fights racism.
“Transformation and justice must be at the centre of government policies, not gestures designed to appease the privileged.
“As we go into the SOPA, we fully expect Premier Winde to once again evade these real issues. Instead, he will boast about irrelevant ‘successes,’ deliver empty promises, and continue to ignore the lived realities of the people he has failed. But we will not be fooled.”
EFF Chief Whip, Aishah Cassiem said: “Based on previous SOPA’s, where no true account was given by the premier as to what is currently happening in this province, we won’t be surprised if he, again, fails to address the major issues affecting those in poor black communities.
“With crime increasing in this province, under the DA government, we are hoping that this year, the premier at least touches on how he intends to fight drugs and gangsterism, especially on the Cape Flats,” Cassiem said.
Bishop Lavis Crime Prevention Forum’s Graham Lindhorst wants the premier to tackle gang-related crimes on the Cape Flats.
“We hope that Premier Alan Winde will speak to the social issues in our communities with a view to intervene, arrest school dropouts at an early stage - with interventions from the Western Cape government geared at minimising the risk- and build more decent houses for backyarders and shack dwellers.”
Ilitha Labantu spokesperson, Siyabulela Monakali, said that they are calling on Winde to take urgent and decisive action to address the escalating crisis of gender-based violence (GBV) and crime.
“The province remains one of the most dangerous in the country, with areas such as Khayelitsha, Nyanga, and Gugulethu ranking among the highest in crime statistics. Women and children bear the brunt of this violence, facing daily threats to their safety and well-being.
“The alarming femicide rates and the prevalence of violent crimes against women demand immediate and effective intervention from the provincial government. Despite the severity of the crisis, the Western Cape government has not shown any real intention to address the issue of crime and violence, leaving communities vulnerable and unprotected,” Monakali said.
“Ilitha Labantu expects Premier Winde to outline clear strategies that will strengthen the province’s response to GBV, improve policing, and ensure better access to support services for survivors.”
theolin.tembo@inl.co.za