Listening to the State of the Province Address last week, many of you present here today will surely agree with me that we are facing a disaster in almost every single department. To list a few Hon. Speaker:

• Crime has escalated exponentially.

• Healthcare accessibility remains poor.

• The Education system has weakened.

• Roads are falling apart.

• Sewerage and water systems are clogged up.

Last but not least, food security is threatened because of electricity and water shortages.

Hon. Speaker, all of this simply because of the collapse of the national power grid by the ANC, under the leadership of a President, who less than three months ago wanted to throw in the towel.

Agbare Speaker, ek wil vir hierdie huis sê, diegene wat nog nie die uurlange onderhoud gesien het wat Annike Larsen met Andre de Ruyter gevoer het nie - gaan kyk dit asseblief. Ja, dit is skokkende onthullings. Soveelso dat hier 'n groot skeuring kom tussen die Ramaphosa-faksie en die sogenaamde hervormde groep. Die ANC se toekoms is bedreig en die DA gaan oorvat.

Hon. Premier, you can go on about changes in the unemployment rate in the province, but what does this mean when the number of Northern Cape citizens who are dependent on social grants, has risen by over two hundred thousand in the past two years, to over five hundred and nineteen thousand in September 2022?

South Africans are paying R570 more for a basic food basket than they did a year ago. You say the 10% increase in food insecure households is concerning but yet the ANC wants to start shedding grants from 1 March 2024, starting with the R350 social relief of distress grant. Concern without action does not count, Hon. Premier.

Establishing an expert team to tackle youth unemployment will bear no fruits unless you mitigate the impact of rolling blackouts. We need a positive impact on the expansion and development of business opportunities. In short, deal with loadshedding Hon Premier!

In the Western Cape, Premier Alan Winde has requested to set aside R1 billion over three years to respond to the energy crisis. Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis announced that, between now and 2028, the city will spend around R1 billion a year on electricity infrastructure.

The Northern Cape province, also known as the solar hub for South Africa, can offer more direct clean energy. The DA suggests that you, Hon Premier, consider subsidizing direct clean energy access from Independent Power Producers for the agricultural sector. We cannot sit back while potatoes, peanuts, and livestock continue to be in danger because of load-shedding, thousands of rands worth of produce gets thrown away due to loadshedding.

Hon. Premier, the DA would like to applaud Gift of the Givers for their role in providing aid to areas affected by the floods and drought. Simultaneously, we would like to remind you that there were farmers in areas such as Namaqualand and the Kalahari, who also faced disaster. Nevertheless, we will raise questions about the role of this government during the disasters, particularly in these areas.

Hon. Premier, farmers in the Kalahari and surrounding Rietfontein area were hit by the worst fires last year, their cattle and sheep burnt to death and they have no grazing land left. They are devastated. These are some of the pictures to remind you of the devastation in that area, I want to get real, speak to the issues – show the issues. See pics here, here, here and here.

Hon. Premier, they received no aid in respect of the last disaster funding model. My colleague, Hon. Liebenberg, has done everything she can, to lobby the department. She spoke to the MEC and HOD of Agriculture, and the MEC of COGHSTA to assist but to no avail. Poverty and disaster know no color. Hon Premier for the love of agriculture and the love of the citizens of Northern Cape, will you consider assisting? We will provide the necessary information to your office.

Hon. Premier, our municipalities are on the verge of collapse. Renosterberg Municipality continues to regress. As far back as a year ago, we made our concerns publicly known. This includes the state of Magareng Municipality and Thembeilhle Municipality, where staff, including Public Representatives, have not been paid on time or for the last two months because of the lack of funds, even their pension fund has not been paid since august last year.

With the launch of the R500 million Kimberley project, you boldly committed that by the end of 2021, there would not be a single pothole in and around Kimberley. I thus invite you, Mr. Premier, to take a drive, not that far, just around the corner from where you stay. To date, we haven’t seen any progress report about the said project. For how long Mr. Premier should the citizens of Northern Cape tolerate this?

Hon. Speaker, we can only hope that SANRAL’s involvement in our road network will yield the desired outcomes. Hopefully, SANRAL will achieve what Public Works can only wish for.

On the other hand, we can only hope for the long-awaited solutions to address the sewerage and water leak crises on the R31 between Kimberley and Barkly-West, which has to date only been met with empty promises.

Hon. Premier, floods are amongst the most frequent and costly disasters. Following the State of the Province Address, I had the opportunity to visit Magareng yesterday. The floods have caused numerous structural damages. Since 21 February, the pipe at the water treatment plant is damaged and to date there are no plans to fix the water crisis.

We call on communities to report severe losses and damages to property in flood-stricken areas and to please not return to their homes unless it is safe to do so or indicated by authorities to do so. We would like to thank every civil servant, the Salvation Army, food banks, and all foundations that assisted the Northern Cape with this disaster.

Hon. Premier, you mentioned the clean school hostel in Calvinia but in Delportshoop, children have been missing school because the hostel is falling apart. Please will you look into that? See pics here, here and here.

Another sad story is the Nico Bekker Hostel in Williston, which is completely stripped and vandalised (see pics here, here and here). The Noenieput School Hostel is also subjected to vandalism (see pics here, here and here), whilst the Hantam High School had to close facilities due to possible collapse. Education deserves better, and perhaps consideration should be given to reprioritizing the R80 million, to the said schools’ needs.

Hon. Premier, imagine the R3 billion infrastructure budget creating hope for the repair of broken health facilities, schools, and other dilapidated infrastructure projects.

We note the improvement in the payment to SMMEs within 30 days, but when are we dealing with payment disputes where some have still not been paid for two years? The Hon. Lekwene and the acting HOD, Mr Riaan Strydom, are aware of this endless problem.

Nevertheless, let us not forget municipalities like Dawid Kruiper. The failure to pay service providers on time resulted in this municipality having only two out of nine operational refuse trucks. Hon. Speaker, I want to apologize to the people of Dawid Kruiper and I want to assure them that if they vote for the DA, this will never happen under a DA Government.

Hon. Speaker, in March 2022, the health department invested in 92 new vehicles since the start of the Sixth Administration, to ensure better capacity to enable better response times during emergencies.

While being in Roodepan at number 8 Arcadia Street, I can attest to the fact that people were waiting for five hours for an ambulance to arrive. In Rietfontein, a donkey cart was used by residents to take a patient to the clinic. Daar is geen dienste oor naweke nie. Mense van die Kalahari moet omdraai sonder om mediese sorg te ontvang. In Upington is daar of geen beskikbare ambulanse nie of van hulle is buite werking. What kind of emergency service is this? People cannot afford private emergency services.

Hon. Premier, there are not just waiting times for ambulances, but for surgery too, due to a lack of theatre nurses at the Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe hospital, resulting in backlogs and delays, and possible litigation. People are really suffering because of the poor state of health care and ambulance services.

Hon. Premier, corruption steals from the poor. The Public Service Commission last year confirmed that it was conducting a probe regarding government employees who hold senior positions without the relevant qualifications.

In the Northern Cape, the Departments of Health, Education and Economic Development and Tourism were each said to have 10 officials without the relevant qualifications, while Agriculture and the Premier’s Office consist of seven officials each who do not have the relevant qualifications. In your response Hon. Premier, we would like you to report on whether any action has been taken to remedy the situation.

The Northern Cape is also one of seven provinces that have still not conducted lifestyle audits, despite this having become compulsory on 1 April 2021.

Hon. Speaker, what makes matters worse is that just last week the Public Service Commission reported to Parliament that the Northern Cape is one of the provinces that has outsourced its lifestyle audits to the police. Perhaps this is a good idea, who knows, but why would your office Hon. Premier defer your responsibilities to someone else? During November 2021 the Premier’s Office received training on how to deal with lifestyle audits but to date, not a single audit has been done.

Hon. Speaker, we all know that the only way to detect corruption is through lifestyle audits. There are government employees who live beyond their means, driving expensive cars, owning massive houses, some personal assistants of some Mayors, if you go to the village, they own double stories. We need to check on them.

Hon. Premier, you referred to a Memorandum of Understanding with the Office of the Public Protector to strengthen cooperation in combating and eradicating fraud, corruption, maladministration, and malpractice in the Northern Cape. Hon. Premier, last year the SIU referred eight cases to the Northern Cape for blacklisting. Can you tell this House whether you indeed acted to stop the state from doing business with these companies?

Hon Speaker once again the Public Service Commission has reported that no senior manager can do business with the state, it’s a criminal offense. State capture and corruption, let alone stealing, might not be the biggest problem for the ruling party, with unrestrained thieves stealing our future, this is the most horrific act indeed.

While white-collar crime plunders the state, blue-collar crime is terrifying the citizens of the Northern Cape. Sexual assault and rape have increased significantly over the years, the Northern Cape has had multiple strategies to address sexual violence and gender-based violence, but we have not had significant results. But what do we expect when the 10111 stops working in places like De Aar and Richmond due to loadshedding?

Hon Premier, in your response to this matter will you allow Hon. Lekwene, Hon. Manopole and Hon Vass to stand up in this House.

In closing, I appeal to you Hon. Premier, to help take the Northern Cape back from the hands of criminals. While policing is the duty of SAPS, safety is the mandate of your provincial government. You can champion safe spaces and help create a secure and crime-free province. It is time for action and for progress.