Washed-up ANC delivers its final KZN SOPA

28 February 2024

Today’s State of the Province Address (SOPA) by Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube showed all the signs of a washed-up ANC that is running scared ahead of the May elections.

Despite the stakes never having been higher for the ANC, the Premier delivered what can only be described as a ‘dololo’ SOPA. This, as she scrambled to turn around her party’s ongoing decline.

Listening to the Premier today, KZN sounds like paradise - as long as you don’t look too closely at the joblessness, the abject poverty, the filthy sewage filled streets, the violent crime and all manner of other horrors.

Today, the DA expected the Premier to address job creation and rebuilding KZN’s economy. Instead, she blamed the disastrous provincial economy and lack of investor confidence on the July 2021 unrest and Covid-19, while claiming private sector investments as government initiatives.

Today, we expected the Premier to provide answers around the collapse of service delivery across the province. This as loadshedding and water outages cause untold suffering and remain one of KZN’s biggest disinvestment issues. Instead, we heard more about war rooms and master plans and no real action.

Today, we expected the Premier to address the horrific crime levels within our province. Instead, she spoke about a Community Safety Intervention Unit with 1 000 social crime prevention volunteers and did not address the fact that an additional 4 000 SAPS officers during the past year have not reduced violent crime.

The Premier also failed to provide answers on the whereabouts of panic buttons for gender-based violence victims, body cams for law enforcement and the crime-fighting drones – all promised during last years’ SOPA.

Today, the Premier cherry-picked a few niceties within Education, ignoring the elephant in the room, SADTU’s capture of the sector. She waxed lyrically about KZN’s 2023 matric pass rate, while the real pass rate is just 56.7%.

She also claimed small successes within Health as ANC government achievements, ignoring the context of compliance standards and targets set by the national department.

Today, the DA expected the Premier to come up with real solutions. Yet, true to form, it was a State of the Promises dedicated to lauding her ANC’s so-called achievements.

Today’s SOPA has exposed that the ANC has no plan and that it is past its sell by date. Tomorrow, the DA will unpack its Rescue KZN offer to the people of our province as part of the annual SOPA Debate. The power to bring about positive change lies in their hands.

Statement issued by Francois Rodgers, MPL - Leader of the DA in the KZN Legislature, 28 February 2024