Honourable Members,
Fellow South Africans,
Residents of Gauteng.
I stand here today to declare that Premier Makhura and his administration are not fit to govern Gauteng. It is a stand that one does not take lightly, but I am convinced that if we are to turn Gauteng for the better, the current administration needs to step aside.
If we all agree that Gauteng faces triple the challenges of unemployment, poverty and inequality, then we should judge an administration on what they have done to address these challenges. This administration has failed in addressing joblessness and poverty in Gauteng since 2014.
Last week, Stats SA confirmed that unemployment and joblessness continues to increase in Gauteng. More people are without jobs and live in poverty in 2021 in Gauteng than there were in 2014 when this Premier came into office.
In many instances when I deliver a speech in this House I say, “Mintirho ya vulavula”, your work should speak for itself. This should not mean that you climb on top of the house and claim to have done something, those that have experienced your good deeds must bear testimony and tell the good deeds you have done. Beating and dancing to your own drum is not how it is done. This administration has mastered the art of blowing its own trumpet when there is very little to see.
Just this past Sunday, this administration chose to take a full-page advert in the Sunday Times in an effort to give a none existent picture. You see Premier, if you were doing a good job there would be no need to take a full-page advert in the Sunday Times – people would be singing your praises. We know what will follow is a series of billboards with smiling Premier and MECs claiming some easy victories.
To show that this administration does not care about the economic plight of the people of Gauteng, we need to just look at the Economic Development Department. This department has agencies that are tasked with assisting in creating an environment for job creation, but they have more actors than Generations and Muvhango. In the last 20 months, the department has had three MECs while the Gauteng Enterprise Propeller has not had a CEO for over 5 years. Given the joblessness in Gauteng, the Economic Development Department should be the mainstay of the administration, but it one of the most unstable. Changes happen faster than how Msholozi used to reshuffle his cabinet.
In 2018, the buzz word in the corridors of power was “nine wasted years” in reference to the Zuma administration. Looking closely to the unemployment, joblessness and poverty in Gauteng one can conclude that we have had seven wasted years in Gauteng.
Honorable Members, we have an opportunity today to avoid breaking the record of nine wasted years that Zuma had set. I ask you to vote in support of this motion.