The Democratic Alliance welcomes the commitment of the Premier, Noxolo Kiviet, to the National Development Plan. What is also good news for the province is the number of projects that the Premier highlighted in her speech. However, she failed to project the leadership vision that this province needs.
What the DA was expecting was for her to crack the whip and usher in a new culture of accountability in the province.
She needed to spell out consequences for the 6 700 teachers who are refusing to move to schools where they are desperately needed, she failed to spell out consequences for civil servants who continue to do businesses with the state and loot our resources. She failed to spell out consequences for those civil servants who continue to underspend.
She correctly highlighted the issue of unemployment but failed to spell out clear measures of how things would be different. This province lost 69 000 jobs in the last quarter of 2012, and no mention was made of the youth wage subsidy which could play a huge role in alleviating youth unemployment. This is part of the National Development Plan and if this province is to change we need bold and creative leadership that will put us on a new path to rising employment, falling crime, decent education and healthcare services.
Bobby Stevenson
