An ad-hoc committee that will conduct a report on the Western Cape Provincial Powers Bill and make recommendations to the legislature has been established.
This comes after a motion was passed with no objections during a House sitting on Thursday. The Committee consists of members from the political parties represented in the legislature, who will oversee the legislative process.
It comprises six DA members, two from the ANC, one EFF member, and also one member each from the GOOD Party, ACDP, Freedom Front Plus, and Al Jama-ah. Their names were expected to be made known soon.
The bill was introduced by the Standing Committee on the Premier and Constitutional Matters in May, as it hopes for the formal transfer of powers.
This comes as the DA government seeks devolution in policing, public transport, energy, harbours, including national harbours, and trade, including international trade.
“The ANC national government is incapable and unwilling to carry out its responsibilities to the people of the Western Cape and South Africa and is dragging the country closer to state collapse. Incompetence, mismanagement, and corruption have set the wheels of state collapse in motion in South Africa.
The Provincial Powers Bill seeks to protect the people of the Western Cape against ANC state failure by seeking the devolution and expansion of critical powers such as policing, public transport, energy, trade, and harbours,” said MPL Christopher Fry.
The DA is hoping to have completed all processes before the elections.
Leader of the ANC opposition in the legislature, Cameron Dugmore, said during the debates on Thursday that the provincial government had to stop campaigning for an independent Western Cape and instead concentrate on delivering services.
“According to an article, Phantsi Kocingo has been waiting for over 20 years on the housing database.
“For 20 years, dololo (nothing happened)! Yet people like Lonwabo Peter are absolutely right when they demand that the housing waiting list must be made public.
“The ANC supports this call and we will insist that the database be made public so that people can see just how inept this DA provincial government is.
It took the national minister of human settlements to intervene in Khayelitsha.
“Yet we also know why there have been delays in providing adequate housing to people.”
The bill has officially been published in the Provincial Gazette and is now open for public comment until August 7.
Comments can be sent to Johan Coetzee at [email protected]
Cape Times