/ MEDIA STATEMENT / The content on this page is not written by Polity.org.za, but is supplied by third parties. This content does not constitute news reporting by Polity.org.za.

The DA expects Premier Chupu Stan Mathabatha’s State of the Province Address (SOPA) tomorrow to focus on interventions to- create jobs, accelerate service delivery, tackle corruption, and improve the education and health systems in the province.

Limpopo residents have been subjected to a lack of the most basic of services. Access to water continues to be one of the province’s biggest challenges with only 69.1% of households in Limpopo having access to piped water, a drop from 84% in 2010. The premier must explain this regression and implementable plans to solve the chronic water challenges.

Corruption remains at the heart of most of our provincial departments and municipality’s failures, and the premier should take a tough stance against government officials and/or politicians implicated in corrupt activities.

Mathabatha needs to outline solid , implementable plans of how the provincial government will continue to shore up the monitoring mechanisms and increase capacity in the Provincial Treasury to offer support to municipalities, departments, and entities. He must ensure that sound financial management, effective financial controls and consequence management is put in place to curb improper use of resources, irregular, unauthorised, fruitless and wasteful expenditure. This should be coupled with ways to increase revenue realised by the province.

The province currently has more than 3 million people who are not economically active; 61.6% of all households rely on some form of social grant.

At his SOPA 5 years ago, the premier boasted that Limpopo’s unemployment rate was 16.5%, the lowest in the country; 5 years later, The Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for the period October to December 2023 as released by Stats SA earlier this month indicates a 30.3% unemployment rate and the third largest, in expanded, unemployment rate nationally at 46.7%

We expect the Premier in this election year to outline bold plans to create a conducive environment for job creation as well as plans and mechanisms to empower and offer support to SMME’s.

The withdrawal by the UNDP backing of the Musina-Makhado-Special Economic-Zone (MMSEZ) poses a risk to the legitimacy of the project and the premier must be transparent in his explanation as to the effect this will have on the project.

We are also still waiting on details of the 48000 job opportunities emanating from the MMSEZ as promised by Premier Mathabatha.

With regard to Education, Premier Mathabatha must use the SOPA to provide interventions to improve high vacancy rates in schools, reduce drop-out rates and improve financial management in the department. The province significantly improved its Matric pass rate but continues to miss the 80% pass rate target set by the premier and this must be addressed.

He must also address the infrastructure backlog in the department, specifically providing solid plans to finally eradicate the province of inappropriate sanitation facilities.

The performance of the Department of Health continues to be worrisome as it is directly linked to the wellbeing of our citizens; 84.5% of our citizens in the province make use of public health services. We will be expecting solutions that will address shortages of medicine, equipment, staff and security at state clinics and hospitals.

The Premier must also outline plans to address the shocking state of health infrastructure in the province. Revitalisation and increased capacity in many of our hospitals is key to providing adequate healthcare. Plans to deal with sky high negligence claims in the department, corruption, mismanagement of finances and scarce resources in the department as well as holding the implicated officials accountable should also be revealed in this SOPA.

Tomorrow Premier Mathabatha must steer away from electioneering and empty promises to deliver a SOPA that will provide hope to the millions suffering in our province.

Issued by Lindy Wilson MPL - DA Provincial Leader