While the people of North West are anticipating Premier Mokgoro’s State of the Province Address (SOPA) to be delivered this coming Friday, the Democratic Alliance (DA) is concerned about the legitimacy thereof.
Since the Office of the Premier has been placed under administration in terms of Section 100(1)(b) of the Constitution in May 2018, nothing has changed. This effectively strips away any confidence in him as a leader or his ability to lift this province out of its collapsed state.
In terms of Section 100(1)(b), the National Government assumes responsibility for the relevant obligations in the province. Subsequently, the executive powers of the Premier have been taken away, including the responsibility to summon the Legislature to an extra ordinary sitting as per Section 127(d) of the Constitution for the purposes of delivering his SOPA.
In addition to this, widespread corruption, maladministration and fruitless and wasteful expenditure are still felt by the people on the ground and with ten departments under administration, the prospects of change remain dim.
Most North West municipalities has now reached a critically low point that necessitates decisive action. The fault lines within the ANC is displayed in its deeply rooted factionalism that is greatly contributing to the lack of service delivery.
In order to save failing municipalities, the Premier needs to firstly propose a plan that will deal with the factionalism within his own ranks and secondly, propose a turnaround strategy that will result in the termination of Section 100.
In his previous SOPA, the Premier made many promises pertaining to economic growth, youth unemployment, housing backlogs, safety in schools, scholar transport, upgrade of roads, quality healthcare and rural safety.
The embers of these empty promises are now mere dust in the eyes of the citizens of this province.
The DA hereby challenges the Premier to take the province in confidence and publicise the Section 100(1)(b) governance protocols in order to show the extent of the national intervention to his office. This will also indicate whether he has any powers to deliver the SOPA or if it will just be a waste of time.