Speaker, for the past two weeks the DA has travelled this province. We met with residents from all walks of life. We saw the suffering of our people as a result of poor governance in North West.

I was surprised by your SOPA address – I realised that you, Honourable Premier, have lost touch with the people and state of your province.

I travelled the roads, inspected infrastructure, spoke to the people and it is clear after Friday that the Honourable Premier is not in touch with the people of North West.

His State of the Province address was a slap in the face of the many unemployed people, in the faces of those who travel to school on foot, to the sick and elderly who have to be pushed in wheelbarrows to get medical attention.

About a million people of the North West cannot find work, many of whom have long since given up looking. While planning statues and buying luxury cars – The Premier missed how hungry communities are for change.

They are thirsty for houses, education and quality medical care. They don’t want to drink contaminated water anymore or see statues that will chase tourists away.

Speaker, it was a flimsy SOPA to say the least. It was just another Supra show where you deliberately excluded large numbers of your diverse province.

We are ashamed on your behalf for honouring a man who broke this country, who broke the Constitution and has a legacy of negative controversy, by insisting on your shameful Zuma Statue.

When last did you stop and listen to the ordinary citizens in your province? When last did you act in honour of your oath of office?

But let me enlighten you about the real state of this province. Let me assist you to see the real picture, which the DA has assessed.

I want to tell you about the “Lost Generation”. These are young people who are “Not in Education, Employment, or Training”.

They are locked out of our economy without jobs, without opportunities and with little hope of finding their way back in.

These young people may be the so-called born-frees, but everywhere they are in chains.
This is our reality. A lost generation. The real State of the North West Province.

Speaker rescuing this lost generation is our greatest challenge. It is a challenge, however, that the ANC provincial government led by Premier Supra Mahumapelo refuses to face because of its ignorance, allied with power. Because of its greed. Because of its corruption.

Your promise of 6% economic growth during last year’s SOPA was not honoured – nor did you apologise to the people. And yet you failed to announce fresh, bold and innovative new interventions and plans of action to grow the economy and create jobs for close to a million jobless people of this province trapped in the hopelessness of unemployment.

Those young ones who are lucky enough to go to school are faced with severe challenges. Their school buildings are dilapidated, their teachers are getting paid late and there is minimum resource support for learners. They have to walk to school each day – despite the harsh weather conditions. While you travel in your brand new luxury car – please take a minute to think about those who are not so lucky.

Kindly keep the school children in Tshing in your thoughts who are without electricity for the past three weeks due to non-payment of their services accounts.

Also, think about the sick, elderly people who have to rely on government medical care. Think about those who are too weak to walk and in an inhumane way have to be pushed in a wheelbarrow.

Speaker, it is interesting that the Premier conveniently forgot to address the issue of our failing health system in the province.

The Office of Health Standards Compliance paints a grim picture of a failing public health system in the North West, a worrying lack of disclosure about its shortcomings, and an oversight mechanism that has done little to raise standards.

A good example of the North West’s failing health system is costly medical malpractice which has become a norm in his administration.

In the first 5 months of the 2016-2017 financial year alone, this administration spent over R20 million on pay-outs for medical malpractices.

Your province cries for your attention. They do not need statues and grand cars and big words, they need action.
The extreme display of richness and abundance during the SOPA event was shocking. While you laid out red carpets, sat in a draped air-conditioned tents, just a stone’s throw away the community asked for proper roads, asked you to stop painting rocks next to the gravel roads and rather build proper roads.

They were suffering in their flooded houses while you were cosy sitting for a meal – fit for a king. They begged for you to give them jobs – irrespective whether they are ANC card carrying members or not.

Please forgive us for being over suspicious – your legacy taught us to take your promises with a pinch of salt.
We have required copies of all forensic audit reports. However, you manipulate the facts and you decide what information to share and what to hide.

This ANC-led government has been refusing to provide copies of forensic investigations reports to members of the Provincial Legislature in opposition benches to enable them to exercise their oversight responsibilities.

The truth must be told. Actual reports have never been tabled. No detail whatsoever. We have submitted several requests for the actual reports and nothing has been provided. What are you hiding?

All this is happening in a province where Premier Supra Mahumapelo wants to spend R6 million on a statue, in honour of President Jacob Zuma - it is just as useless to the people of this Province, as his Nkandla palace is to the people of KZN.

It is disgraceful that in a province where many struggle, money will be spent on a vanity project for a President whose legacy will be nothing but corruption and rising unemployment.

Speaker the Premier spoke about Reconciliation Healing and Renewal. Why is he not a servant of his words? The swearing and rude comments from Supra Mahumapelo directed at a DA MP during the State of the Nation Address left much to be desired.

That is why they embraced the presence of the disgraced former Eskom group chief executive, Brian Molefe at SOPA – the ANC serves cadres – not the people.

How disappointing it must have been for all those who placed their trust in you, Mr Premier, to deliver them from their suffering.

Speaker, it is time we looked towards the future. It is time we envisaged a DA-led government and its innovative ways of doing things in 2019.

The young people of this province want a future they have a say in. They don’t want to be dependent on the state in a shrinking economy.

They want to be independent, with opportunities they can use to be truly free.
And so the DA has started mapping out a Rescue Plan for the future we believe in, a Rescue Plan for our Lost Generation.

This rescue plan will ensure an efficient government tasked with creating opportunities for people.

We will invest massively in training and education prioritising skills that are a core fundamental of economic growth.

We expand the labour market to absorb the 44% of young people left out of the mainstream economy in this province.

We will approach growth and job creation not as a government problem with a government solution, but as a partnership with businesses large and small.

Only the private sector can create jobs at the scale and pace we need, which is why we will radically reform the labour regime to support job creation, especially for low-skill labour-intensive small businesses.

We will invest in the kind of infrastructure needed for inclusive economic growth, and not the projects designed to generate kickbacks.

We will stop corruption. We will trim the fat of our bloated, inefficient government by capping spending on consultants, making tender processes transparent and cutting government perks like travel, vehicles and VIP protection.

We will bring hope to the lost generation.

I thank you.