STRAIGHT TALK
3 July 2023
There is growing anxiety and despair among South Africans at national government’s increasing inability to deliver on its constitutional mandate, be it energy, policing, rail or any other of its responsibilities.
But there are also reasons to have hope. Everywhere, households and businesses are becoming more self-reliant, state-proofing themselves in all manner of ways be-it community initiatives, solar lighting or boreholes. Civil society, too, is weighing in. Just last week, Solidarity secured an agreement with the government, mediated by the International Labour Organisation, that no one may lose their job purely due to their race.
Arguably, the most powerful way to protect citizens is for capable provincial and local governments to carry out the functions that national government is failing on, to the fullest extent possible under the constitution. This is in line with the DA’s commitment to Federalism, which seeks to bring government as close as possible to communities, by vesting power in the lowest level of government capable of carrying out the role.
In May, the DA tabled the Western Cape Provincial Powers Bill in the provincial legislature. The Bill creates a framework for the province to fully assert its existing constitutional and legislative powers and to get more powers delegated from national government. It not only enables but instructs the provincial government to step in as far as constitutionally possible where national government is failing to perform a function.