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With thousands of jobs on the line, including 136 000 in agriculture alone, I find myself frustrated by Minister Ebrahim Patel's persistent refusal to address the Western Cape Standing Committee on Finance, Economic Opportunities and Tourism’s concerns regarding the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

In a letter sent to Minister Patel yesterday, I again emphasised the importance of AGOA for the Western Cape and South Africa's economic growth and job creation. As per the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, matters of agriculture, industrial promotion, and trade fall within the concurrent competence of the provinces, making AGOA a significant concern for us.

In the letter, I further stated that if a response is not received by the deadline [Friday, 4 August 2023] the Legislature will have no option but to issue a summons. As indicated in previous correspondence, section 115 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, provides in part that this Committee may:

(a) summon any person to appear before it to give evidence on oath or affirmation, or to produce documents;
(b) require any person or provincial institution to report to it;
(c) compel… any person or institution to comply with a summons or requirement in terms of paragraphs (a) or (b)…

The Minister responded, on the same day, suggesting that the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) is the more appropriate venue for discussions on AGOA with provinces.

In the spirit of cooperative governance, I carefully considered the Minister's proposal and will be writing to both the Minister and Chair of the Select Committee, insisting that all members of our committee should be allowed to attend the NCOP briefings with full rights. Further, this meeting should take place in the week of 4 to 7 September 2023.

Should this request not be accepted, we will explore legal action, including officially summoning the Minister to inform the committee regarding the specific information requested in our communications with the Minister. This is necessary to ensure that we can ask the tough questions needed to represent the best interests of our residents.

Thanks to the DA’s unrelenting efforts to ensure South Africa’s inclusion in AGOA, it was further revealed in the Minister’s correspondence that:

• The Minister is in discussion with the Chairperson of the Select Committee to try and secure an earlier date for a briefing to all the provinces.
• South Africa has been nominated to host the next AGOA Forum scheduled for November of the current year. The US Administration and South Africa are actively collaborating on the logistics of the Forum.
• In July 2023, a high-level delegation comprising leaders from government, business, and labour engaged with several United States Administration and Congressional leaders to advocate for a timely extension of AGOA preferences.
• Ongoing discussions on behalf of all AGOA-eligible countries are being held with the US Administration and members of Congress to secure the earliest extension of AGOA before its expiry in 2025.
• South Africa presented the joint position of African countries on the extension of AGOA at the AGOA Forum in Washington, DC, convened by the US Administration in December 2022.
• The Minister has spoken with the Premiers of Western Cape, Eastern Cape, and Gauteng on AGOA in recent months and plans to arrange a meeting of MECs from different provinces through the MINMEC structure to enable cooperative governance at the level of executive authorities.

My committee will also be sending the Minister statistics, as referenced in my correspondence with him, relating to jobs and export performance in the Western Cape - should there be any confusion on the importance of AGOA to the Western Cape’s provincial economy.

The people of the Western Cape deserve full transparency from their elected representatives on this issue which will have profound consequences on lives and livelihoods. The DA remains committed to conducting oversight over constitutionally mandated areas, such as AGOA, and we will not allow our province to lose valuable jobs due to the ANC National Government's foreign policy blunders.

Issued by Cayla Murray, MPP - DA Western Cape Spokesperson on Finance, Economic Opportunities and Tourism