By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Flying fists, chairs, and water bottles — that is how Eastern Cape premier Oscar Mabuyane’s State of the Province address started after he was interrupted by the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).
The sitting at the Abbotsford Christian Centre, East London got off to a violent start that ended up with the EFF thrown out.
Similar scenes played out in Gauteng last week when the red berets clashed with crime prevention wardens – now informally known as amaPanyaza.
EFF in Eastern Cape said they had every right, according to legislature rules, to interrupt proceedings and raise issues of public importance.
“We wanted the Speaker to allow the Premier to address the students and thereafter the province,” he said.
Delays in the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), allowance payments, unresolved academic exclusions due to late payments by NSFAS, and unsafe residences were some of the issues at the crux of the protest.
Residents from Reeston were also outside the venue hoping to address their housing issues with the premier.
While angry citizens protested outside, Mabuyane spoke of a story of good progress.
“Despite our challenges, we are resilient, we are decent, and we have shown great humanity to each other in the past five years.
Since 2019, we have built close to 100 schools, we have achieved an 80.4% 2023 matric pass rate, and we have worked tirelessly to improve the health profile of our province”.
The Premier said the life expectancy for women improved from 56 years in 2001 to 67 years in 2021, while men are also living seven years longer than they were in 2001.
There has been a significant reduction in the number of medico-legal claims from 600 in 2019 to 200 in 2023, with litigation costs decreasing from a range of R2 billion to R450 million in 2022.
Mabuyane noted that in the past five years, they had built over 24,000 houses, with formal dwellings significantly increasing from 48% in 1996 to 83.6% in 2022.
“We also committed to installing 13 electric vehicle charging stations in Komani, Makhanda, Mthatha, Khowa, Maletswai, East London, eQonce, Willowmore, Stormsriver, and Cookhouse.