Earlier this week, Premier Alan Winde met with the opposition leaders of the political parties represented in the Western Cape Legislature.

The purpose of the meeting - which was attended by Members Cameron Dugmore (ANC), Brett Herron (GOOD), Melikhaya Xego (EFF), Peter Marais (FF+), and Ferlon Christians (ACDP) – was aimed at knowledge sharing on the work of government in responding to COVID-19, providing an opportunity to make proposals and building cross-party cooperation in the fight against this global pandemic.

A key topic of discussion included the need for all political parties in the province to encourage their constituents to take responsibility for stopping the spread. This includes following good hygiene practices at all times, and obeying the regulations of the lockdown level we’re in. It was noted by many leaders that they had witnessed transgressions in communities, particularly in areas such as Du Noon, Khayelitsha, Mitchells Plain, Langa and Witzenberg, and that these needed to be addressed through greater communication and enforcement.

Issues were also raised around ensuring the fair and rightful distribution of food parcels to those most vulnerable. In this respect, the Premier assured the members that no councilors from any political party were mandated to be involved in the distribution of Western Cape Government-funded food parcels, and that NGOs had been brought on board to support the professional administration of this humanitarian support.

It was proposed that every effort should be made to ensure co-ordination and cooperation between DSD in the province and SASSA Western Cape. This could help ensure that there was no double dipping. The Premier responded that efforts in this regard had been made through a mapping exercise.

The Premier reiterated that it was in fact the mandate of the national government SASSA to provide social relief, and that the province had stepped in with limited emergency funding to address the dire need of people for nutrition.

A proposal was made by the leader of the opposition that a joint provincial command on food security be established and that all political parties be represented at this level, whilst not being operationally involved.

It was agreed that the Premier would engage the Western Cape Minister of Social Development about having a regular meeting with the leaders on the food parcel distribution programme.

Further queries were raised regarding the higher number of cases in the Western Cape than in other provinces, which Premier Winde explained was due to the much more rigorous approach of the Western Cape Government toward actively locating cases, tracking and tracing contacts and conducting widespread screening and testing in identified clusters. In essence, the Western Cape has a far higher success rate in locating and fighting the ‘bushfires’.

Premier Winde noted that due to the nature of the virus, we will see a dramatic increase in cases in the coming months – that is unavoidable -and that the Health Department was preparing for this through the addition of extra facilities and beds.

The importance of the religious fraternity was raised as a strong avenue for communication with residents, both to receive concerns, as well as to share information from government. Premier Winde indicated that Cabinet had appointed a cluster of Ministers, led by Minister Ivan Meyer, to regularly engage with religious leaders.

A final discussion was held on the economy, and the effects of the lockdown on SMMEs and those in the arts. Joint concern amongst the Premier and all members was expressed at the potential for many businesses to go under. While reiterating that the lion’s share of the business support grant programmes fell under the domain of the national government, Premier Winde undertook to investigate further mechanisms to help our SMMEs to navigate through this time.

The meeting agreed that every effort should be made to ensure that employers complied with the lockdown regulations and also that they be supported in efforts to make workplaces safe.

It was agreed that the meeting was of value, and that the Premier and Leaders of the Opposition would meet weekly going forward to ensure that we build on the base of cooperation and open dialogue which has  been established, and that Premier Winde would encourage district and local municipalities to have similar regular engagements. Some districts are already doing so.

The fight against coronavirus is all of our fight, and we all need to do our part, in our communities and in our communications with our constituents, to ensure we build the responsible behaviour we need to stop the spread.

Issued by Western Cape Office of the Premier, 1 May 2020