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The re-elected speaker in the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature, Helen Sauls-August, said the province had come a long way in its development, and that she trusted that the Premier Oscar Mabuyane, who returned for another term, would usher in the changes needed to take the province a step further.
In an exclusive interview with Algoa FM News, she acknowledged just how much she has grown as a political leader while marveling at the good work the ANC had done in the Eastern Cape.
Full of excitement, the Speaker reminisced of a time in her early political career, when she would travel the former Transkei, and the roads would be total darkness after sunset.
“There are streetlights, roads, and houses being built in rural areas. The province has made progress, however, when people compare it to certain parts of other thriving provinces, like parts of the Western Cape, Gauteng, and KwaZulu-Natal, they take away from the progress we have made as a developing province.”
The Speaker emphasized her support for the Premier and affirmed that the good work really was being done to secure a future for the people of the Eastern Cape. “Growth won’t happen overnight, and people need to be patient, but also we, as the Legislature, need to hold the executive members accountable.”
The acting judge president of the Eastern Cape, Judge Zamani Hlangulele, presided over the swearing-in of Members of the Provincial Legislature on Friday morning.
Sauls-August said ANC MPL, Loyiso Magqashela, was appointed the Chief Whip of the Legislature, while Yusuf Cassim of the DA was named the Chief Whip of the official opposition. Other executive members will be elected in the coming days.
“I believe that the Eastern Cape is on the right track under the leadership of the Premier, however, we need to speed things up. We cannot say in the next two or three years but people have been waiting for 15-20 years for issues to be resolved.”
With ANC majority reduced to 40% during elections, August acknowledged the party needed to do better.
“Our community has spoken, by either keeping away or voting in a particular manner, that this is not the South Africa we imagined. Now we need to realize that and act decisively as the Legislature in forcing the executive to speed up things.”
Both the Speaker and the Premier referenced losing the middle-class vote and the about 20 00 spoilt votes, as the biggest contributor to the party’s decline.
Mabuyane said, “It is unfortunate that there seems to be an issue arising out of the middle class, ‘the so-called black urban vote’. The ANC has done so well to create that huge base, there are so many millionaires after 1994 because of the opportunities we created, it’s a kind of phenomenon now however, that those in urban areas don’t get excited when they see the surface road anymore.”
Despite challenges in securing the throne, the duo said they were looking forward to the seventh administration, which has not been without a rocky start.
On Thursday, Mercedez-Benz South Africa (MBSA) announced that they were undergoing a 60-day consultation process, according to Section 189 of the Labour Relations Act, which could see about 700 employees losing their jobs.
The Premier said that they had done what they could to assist the company by building the road to and from the East London Manufacturing Plant, but could not pay MBSA employees their salaries.
“We are discussing that with MBSA as an external stakeholder. From an infrastructure point of view we assist where we can, but we cannot pay their employees. They will revert back in a week’s time, after they have put together what they are working on to salvage the plant. Our interest is to minimize any negative job impact and help them redirect resources they have to save jobs.”
Mabuyane mentioned other means to bring stability, employment, and economic development in the province.
“We must focus on microeconomics, factories and firms. We have done relatively well on our Special Economic Zones, Coega, and East London IDZ, where over 14000 people are employed.
“We are now working on the eastern part, the wild coast SEZ, where we already have companies interested to invest R2 billion in that space. We are working hard to create opportunities for our young people and the province at large.”
