Premier’s reply to debate on the 2025 Western Cape State of the Province Address
On Thursday, 27 February 2025, Premier Alan Winde replied to the debate on the 2025 Western Cape State of the Province Address (WCSOPA) held in Beaufort West.
Helping businesses to grow and create jobs
Premier Winde reiterated that the Western Cape Government, its officials, the private sector, and every resident of the province must step up and do everything they can to drive economic growth and job creation; and equip our residents to get those jobs.
“This is our singular focus. We are obsessed with jobs. We remain resolute and focused on enabling the Western Cape’s economy to grow. This means doing everything we can to help entrepreneurs and businesses, big and small, to grow so that they can create many more jobs,” said the Premier in his reply.
He continued, “It is nothing to brag about when more South Africans are receiving social grants. Of course, we must have a social net, to protect our most vulnerable when they are in need. But we must also work hard at getting people off social grants and into jobs; because a job is more than just a salary, it is dignity, and it allows people to plan for their futures and opportunities for their children and loved ones. In this province, no matter what, we will remain obsessed with creating an ecosystem where more people can get a job.”
He added, “We are also enabling our residents to be able to step up and get those jobs because that is how we will change this province. We are doing this through business ecosystem support programmes, internships and skills development”
Stabilising municipalities
The Premier said, “We are supporting problematic municipalities to put programmes and policies in place to turn themselves around. But turnaround takes a long time! It is not like flicking a switch. In some cases, it takes years of focus, dedication, hard work and investment to turn around municipalities. But this is critical work if we are to boost growth and jobs we need our municipalities to work because they put the critical foundations in place, like roads, water, sewage, electricity and other social infrastructure to create a thriving environment for job-creating businesses.”
The Premier stated, “Last year the citizens of our country stood up and said, ‘Genoeg is genoeg’. That is why we now have a Government of National Unity. Because our citizens demanded change! In the local government sphere in the context of Beaufort West and the residents of the Central Karoo, they too experienced years of poor governance and service delivery failure under unstable municipal governance. Residents said they too had had enough and took action at the ballot box for change.”
Transparency and consultation are key to developing Western Cape Government policies
Premier Winde said, “I am very proud of our government’s track record in operating openly and with transparency. In developing our policies, programmes, and strategies we consult widely over long periods to get to a document that eventually shows results and reflects our residents’ expectations. Our rural safety plan is just one example of how we have developed a strategy by going out across the province and engaging with residents, Community Policing Forums, the South African Police Service (SAPS), and businesses. When we were compiling the Provincial Strategic Plan 2025-2030, we held a Premier’s Coordinating Forum (PCF) meeting in this very town in August 2024. This forum bought together officials from all our municipalities, as well as national government representatives, to discuss and develop this critical document. We also invited the leaders of political parties represented in the Western Cape Provincial Parliament (WCPP) to engage with us. We create those spaces and make them work so we can formulate policies that work for our residents. Over and above this engagement we also conducted a number of public consultations with residents across the province. ”
A safer community is a prosperous community
For the province’s economy to grow, residents, business owners, and investors must feel safe.
Premier Winde pointed out that policing is a national government mandate, and the Western Cape Government will continue to push for the devolution of policing powers because safety is such a critical issue for our residents. The Western Cape continues to suffer from an insufficient allocation of SAPS resources, with almost 10 000 fewer police officers deployed to the Western Cape than our population needs. However, Premier Winde took pains to note the potential for increased collaboration between the province and national government on safety issues.
“We support the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed last year between our government, the City of Cape Town, SAPS, and national government which is ensuring closer collaboration and better use of resources, particularly in turning arrests into successful prosecutions. Police Minister Senzo Mchunu stepped up and entered into this agreement with us. He is a breath of fresh air, and I welcome his willingness to work with us in bringing crime down for our residents. We must all give this MoU a chance. This province is stepping up and into the safety space because our residents are hurting. It is unacceptable that areas in our province with the highest crime rate receive the lowest allocation of national policing resources. The honourable members of this house must raise these issues with their national counterparts where decisions are made on policing resource allocation. Go and deal with the problem where it lies. It is as much your responsibility as it is the provincial government.”
He continued, “Through our Law Enforcement Advancement Plan (LEAP), a partnership with the City of Cape Town, which is rooted in an evidence-based and data-led approach to policing, we intervene in areas with high crime rates, and we continually assess our methods and refine our approach to maximise the efficient use of our limited resources. Our efforts are showing encouraging signs as evidenced by the latest quarterly crime statistics. LEAP, our Rural Safety, K-9 units and law enforcement are working, and the data is backing this up. From 2023-2024 a study tested whether brief, targeted, data-driven patrols could significantly reduce violent crime without the investment of additional resources. The study was done in collaboration with the SAPS, City of Cape Town and Western Cape Government. The study found that the targeted approach reduced crime by 5 times the regular approach to policing and in just eight hotspots prevented 100 contact crimes.
To watch a recording of the parliamentary sitting, please visit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TTiOpKTPSE
To watch a recording of the WCSOPA, please visit: