The Democratic Alliance (DA) has voted against the 2021/22 Budget that was tabled in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL) earlier today.
Despite a year of lockdowns, with many irrational, livelihood-damaging restrictions while thousands of lives lost to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Gauteng Provincial Government (GPG) has failed to learn from their mistakes and produce a budget that sufficiently equips the province’s health efforts in combating the virus, as well as providing suitable reforms for economic growth that can actually result in the opening of new job opportunities.
This was the opportunity for the GPG to produce a budget that could have really answered to the dismal health and Covid-19 response in the province.
The rising third wave in this province is claiming more innocent lives. Many residents have lost a loved one to Covid-19, often receiving news of their passing in a hospital ward all alone, other residents have faced retrenchment, forced to sell their homes or cars to keep their heads above water.
Unfortunately the third wave is upon us and it is too late to turn around. Together we can stop the rise in infections if we take the necessary precautions. We still have the power to stabilise the case numbers by taking the personal responsibility for our actions. If we can ensure our continuous mask wearing, hand sanitising, and limiting who we physically interact with outside of work, we can get out of the third wave a lot faster, and work towards economic recovery where new jobs can be created, and those that had to resort to extremes like selling their homes or cars, or did not even own anything of value before the pandemic, can have new opportunities to pursue and have financial stability.
We as residents can defeat this virus and deadly third wave. We got through the first and second wave and we will get through this again.
Let us all do our part and support the health department’s efforts. Once we are through the crisis, we will review and demand accountability. But right now it is about survival – life and death.
Local Government Elections are coming up in 2021! Visit check.da.org.za to check your voter registration status.