By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Northern Cape ANC chairperson Dr.Zamani Saul was sworn-in and delivered his inaugural address today, the 25th of June 2024 at the provincial legislature in Kimberley.
Saul was re-elected Premier of the Northern Cape, beating DA provincial leader Izak Fritz 19 votes to 11 in the first sitting of the of the provincial legislature on 14 June.
Although the ANC failed to win an outright majority in the general election, with 49.34% of the vote and taking 15 of the 30 provincial legislature seats, the Freedom Front (FF) Plus and the Patriotic Alliance (PA), which have a combined four seats in the legislature, supported Saul to be Premier.
Although the FF Plus said that it will not be part of the provincial government, its sole MPL was given a top position in the provincial legislature as well as have some concessions from the ANC for various demands the party had put forward.
In his inaugural address, Saul outlined his vision and plans for this seventh administration, saying they will work together to give the economy growth, job creation, social welfare, infrastructure development and good governance priority.
He said, that the youth comprises of 60 % of the population of the province , the largest cohort of the overall population for the Northern Cape.
The premier added that the provincial government has committed to address challenges faced by young people in the province.
Saul believes government has made significant progress in delivering basic services to the poor.
“Before 1994, many communities were deprived of basic services, which included clean running water, electricity, housing and education. Since the dawn of our democracy, we have reduced the backlog of basic services and have improved living conditions for many citizens.”
In addition, he said the total number of households in the Northern Cape with access to flush toilets increased to 73% in 2022.
“This indicates a huge improvement in the provision of basic services. We have indeed improved the quality of public education and all indicators attest to that.”
He acknowledged that the sixth administration was riddled with challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the aftermath of State Capture.
“As a party and government, we have learnt from our mistakes and want to assure the people of the Northern Cape that we will do anything possible to close the trust deficit. We will do things differently – it won’t be business as usual.”
The next five years, he said, will require intensive engagement with political parties, civil society, the private sector, academia, and all spheres of government.
The Premier believes that the government of national unity (GNU) marks a new era where diverse parties cooperate to improve the citizens’ lives and foster national solidarity.
“We are entering uncharted waters, with a capable captain, His Excellency President Ramaphosa, to take the country through this murky situation,” he told the attendees.
Saul also gave clarity in their engagements with different political parties, saying FF Plus came with two concept documents.
One focuses on the formulation or constitution of the provincial government and the second document is about the status and future developments in Orania.
Orania is a constituency of the FF Plus, with over 65% of residents having voted for the party in the recent elections.
He said these are just discussion documents and not decisions.
“We are of the firm view that some of the things that they are suggesting on the first document on the constitution of the provincial government, Freedom Front plus is quite modest and it is reasonable and we are going to make sure those things happen. One of those things is that their single member of the provincial government becomes the chairperson of the portfolio committee on CoGHSTA. But, the second document raises a whole lot of issues and we took that document to the national negotiation team. It has a preliminary response on that document which we shared with FF Plus. we have not taken any decision in Northern Cape to protect Orania.”
The ANC, which failed to secure an outright majority in May’s elections, received votes from the Patriotic Alliance (PA) and FF Plus who helped Saul to secure his second term as Premier.