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The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Northern Cape hopes that the premier, Dr Zamani Saul, will utilise tomorrow’s State of the Province Address (SOPA) to detail actions being taken and results already achieved, as opposed to mere plans to turn this down-and-out province around.

The state of the Northern Cape is worse than it has ever been before. This has been aggravated by Covid-19, the lockdown’s harsh economic impact and systemic corruption.

Just last week, the Northern Cape received two more devastating blows. Not only was the province announced as having the lowest matric pass rate in the country, but it was also announced as having the largest increase in the official unemployment rate, according to the latest 4th Quarterly Labour Force Survey.

The premier must not try and disguise this real state of the province or the very real hardships that citizens of the Northern Cape are facing.

Now, more than ever before, it would be prudent of Dr Saul to report back on how many criminal cases have been opened, how many officials have been disciplined and how much money has been saved on terminating irregular contracts, since he took over leadership of the Northern Cape.

We want to hear how he is ensuring that all children have sustained access to a quality education, and what he is doing to help create a future for our thousands of demotivated youth who remain without the necessary education, skills and jobs. We are also particularly interested in hearing what he is doing to prevent a provincial-wide water crisis and how he is helping the health department get off life-support.

The premier has already served two years in office, the time for talk is long over.

Issued by The DA