Opposition parties criticise Western Cape ‘mediocrity’

Opposition parties have expressed mixed views on the Western Cape Provincial Economic Review and Outlook (Pero) for 2024, with some stating it exposed the government’s mediocrity.

Finance and Economic Opportunities MEC Deidré Baartman tabled the Pero on Thursday in the Western Cape Legislature with employment, safety, well-being and housing among priorities.

The annual research publication guides the budgeting process in the Western Cape and provides insights on key economic and socio-economic trends and patterns.

“The data in the 2024 Pero show us that despite facing seemingly impossible tasks, despite not necessarily having the constitutional mandate, or the national budget, the

Western Cape Government has never refused to help its residents when they were in need,” said Baartman.

The Western Cape economic expansion was sluggish at 0.7% in 2023, in sync with the national economy.

“The Western Cape economic outlook for 2024 is subject to the same underlying structural challenges of the national economy, although the province is expected to marginally outperform the South African economy and expand by 1.3% in 2024 followed by a rebound of 1.8% in 2025.

It is expected that the finance sector will mainly support the provincial economy with the largest growth contribution (0.6 percentage points) in 2024.

“Despite the challenges we face, the Western Cape provincial economy is a resilient engine which is steaming ahead and bucking the trend of the South African economy,” said Baartman.

GOOD Party secretary-general and MPL Brett Herron said the research showed that the government was far from being a high-performance administration actively working to change and improve the lives of the people who rely on it for basic services.

He said on socio-economic progress, the data showed that good governance was not good government.

“We may have sound governance but it doesn’t benefit the people who need it most and the indicators disclosed mediocrity. The province’s economic growth was lacklustre and the strongest growth was in the sector that does not create jobs for unemployed residents, especially under-educated young people. The so-called ‘Growth for Jobs’ plan shows no evidence of growth or jobs in the data tabled today.

“Our housing delivery last year was a shocking 3 000 houses and 600 serviced sites across our entire province. This was so dismal that we forfeited R500 million in national funding,” said Herron.

He added that even the safety plan was exposed for failing to reduce murders in the hot-spot areas where Leap officers were deployed.

“The stats was that in those hot spots there was a reduction in house burglaries and driving under the influence. Those were the only crime stats showing an improvement. While both are important they do not speak to the key objectives of the plan, nor do they justify the R2.8 billion funding allocated to it,” said Herron.

ACDP MPL Ferlon Christians said: “We are still facing many challenges going forward because the Western Cape is still very dependent on the national government’s economic performance and policies.

“Our slow economic growth due to the energy crises, unemployment and borrowing costs is still extremely concerning, hence me saying we in this province are very dependent on the national government with policy direction. The Western Cape life expectancy (67 for men and 71 for women) and better quality of living is a fact, but even that is not where we should be as a province.”

DA provincial spokesperson on Budget and Finance Peter Johnson said while the province continues to face a challenging economic environment and an ever-increasing population, the Pero made it clear that important signifiers of growth and prosperity remain present.

“The province has recovered well from the pandemic, and has consistently outperformed the national average in several key metrics,” said Johnson.

Cape Times