Cape Town – Western Cape Premier Alan Winde has made many announcements during his State of the Province Address, on Tuesday in Velddrif.
Some of the major announcements have touched on the Western Cape government’s plans to improve health, education, social housing and economic infrastructure.
He has also announced that a new department will be created in the department, and that other plans are in place to create a safer Western Cape.
A new department of infrastructure to be created in the Western Cape
Winde has announced the creation of a department of infrastructure within the Western Cape government.
The premier says that the new department will be responsible solely for infrastructure, and will be established through merging the Human Settlements department, and specific components of the Transport and Public Works department – including the province’s property portfolio and road programmes.
Violence Prevention Unit created to reduce violence across the Western Cape
Winde has said that the dedicated violence prevention unit will be the first such entity established by a government in South Africa.
He has said that while this dedicated unit will be responsible for identifying and designing interventions to reduce violence in communities across the province, it will leverage an all-of-society approach to implementing these initiatives.
Community safety department to be renamed to include police oversight
He has said that the Western Cape will ramp up police oversight, and the department of community safety will be renamed the department of police oversight and community safety.
“We will significantly expand our monitoring of police stations across the province, with a focus on GBV and domestic violence responses, police conduct, visible policing, and crime investigation efficiency.”
He says the focus on creating jobs to fight the second pandemic of unemployment requires unwavering commitment.
"...This government will be obsessed with creating jobs in the Western Cape...
"I will therefore set up an extended jobs cabinet that will consist of our new infrastructure and mobility departments, as well as the department of economic development and tourism, the department of agriculture and the provincial treasury.
“I will also include private sector representatives so that we lead with interventions that will unlock growth and help businesses employ more people,” Winde said.
“We also plan to match this new focus on job-creating infrastructure by committing the funding it requires to succeed.”
Winde shares his plans to improve health, education and economic infrastructure in the Western Cape
He has also made announcements on improving health, education, social housing and economic infrastructure in the Western Cape.
Winde says it is important for the province to push back against “going back to the way things were before the pandemic”.
The premier has identified the following projects:
- The province is planning five mega health infrastructure projects over the medium-to-long term that will significantly modernise this platform.
- Six new mobile schools are anticipated for completion in 2022/2023. He also said that this is in addition to 10 schools that have been completed successfully in the last financial year.
- The province also intends to continue to invest in road infrastructure by launching three new road upgrade projects this financial year. This is in addition to 91 road projects in progress in various phases, worth approximately R3 billion.
- Winde says that the province has received public comment on the Western Cape’s new Inclusionary Housing Framework, which will soon come before the provincial cabinet for consideration.
- “Our broadband roll-out project is currently in phase 2 and we aim to upgrade all 1 910 sites to a minimum of 100Mbps by September 30, 2022. Phase 3 will upgrade minimum speeds to 1 Gbps from October 1, 2022.”
More details on his plan can be read here, and down below in his full speech.
“In conclusion, I highlighted that while the challenges that face our province are serious and, at times, can seem overwhelming, we must never forget what a truly special place we live in.
“There are so many reasons to hope, and we have all the ingredients we need to succeed,” Winde said.
“We will try new ideas, and if they fail, we will learn, and we will try again. We will keep on finding new ways to be the government that the people of the Western Cape deserve, so you can live a long and happy life.”
The premier also touched on plans and actions surrounding gender-based violence and education. More on this can be read below in his full speech he delivered at State of the Province Address: