The State of the Province Address (Sopa) by Free State Premier, Maqueen Letsoha-Mathae, was met with great dismay by opposing parties.
The premier delivered the Sopa last week Friday and some parties felt like it’s just a repetition of what has been said before.
“The FF Plus is utterly dismayed at the fact that the Premier spoke for an hour, yet gave no clear plans as to how she and the ANC government will achieve any of the targets she set out in her speech. She made promises that have been made and broken countless times,” said Member of Parliament, Tammy Breedt, from the FF Plus.
The Free State DA provincial leader, Roy Jankielsohn, raised concerns about the absence of plans to attract more private investors. He also emphasised that the government alone would not be able to tackle the province’s 60% youth unemployment rate.
“We have a large and effective road network, we have great tourism potential and many educational institutions which we should be using to our advantage. The premier must inform us about what she is going to do to use these resources to attract private sector investors in the province. We need vibrant private sector investors to create those sustainable long-term careers for our young people. We are very concerned about the 60% youth unemployment in the province,” he said.
Provincial Secretary-General of the EFF, Bosanku Msimanga, expressed disappointment in the premier for overlooking the widespread corruption in the province, which he says affects the service delivery.
“We thought the premier would dedicate a lot of time talking about corruption because one of the serious hindrances to service delivery is corruption. Maybe she’s caught up in corruption allegations that’s why she didn’t touch on it. Not even a single word about corruption, which is happening in municipalities, in the departments, and in the Office of the Premier.”
Clement Matroos
