Cape Town - As Western Cape Premier Alan Winde puts the finishing touches to his State of the Province speech outlining the provincial government’s plans for the year ahead and reflecting on the past year, people on the streets of Cape Town say they want him to prioritise job creation.
Fruit seller Fatima Daniels said: “More jobs are exactly what we need, because there’re so many people who are unemployed and since the lockdown there’re so many people who are suffering.”
She said people like herself, who were in business for themselves, tried to help other people in their communities, but there was only so much they could do.
“Because even we have families to look after. For instance, I have four kids and it’s not easy to feed them. So I want to hear how our province can uplift the people. They need to help because it’s not easy out there.”
Bicycle courier Patrick O’Gorman said: “People are jobless and homeless. They need them to put money into finding suitable accommodation for the homeless and to make more jobs available. There’s more and more people without jobs. It’s a sad state of affairs.”
From the DA’s own back benches, MPL Cayla Murray said there were two key areas she was eager to hear in the premier’s address.
“The first would be on his plan for the province to better tackle unemployment and create an environment which is conducive to job-creation.
“The second is how the province will continue to work with other spheres of government to overcome the energy crisis.”
GOOD Party MPL Shaun August said he wanted robust action and implementable solutions for some of the province’s most pressing problems.
“The people of this province are not spared from hunger, crime, joblessness, poor services and a slow government that dwells on dreams and what-ifs as opposed to seeking solutions that could end our collective shortcomings.”
ANC MPL Gladys Bakubaku-Vos said: “I’m not expecting anything because it will just be lip service. That’s my problem with the DA, they talk too much, but there is no work done.”
Al Jama-ah MPL Galil Brinkhuis said he hoped to work closely with the premier in terms of finding a solution to the energy crisis.
mwangi.githahu@inl.co.za