Policy priorities of the WC Department and alignment to the Provincial Strategic Plan and Provincial Strategic Implementation Plan; Deliberation on the Draft Western Cape Provincial Powers Bill

Meeting report

Opening Remarks

The Chairperson opened the meeting by greeting all Committee Members present and everyone from the Department of the Premier.

The Chairperson confirmed that two apologies had been received from Premier Winde and Dr Harry Malila, the Director-General (DG), and that Mr Hilton Arendse, Deputy Director-General: Centre for e-Innovation, would be presenting on behalf of the Department. He asked that Committee Members introduce themselves so that it is noted down for the record. Mr C Dugmore (ANC), Ms D Baartman (DA) and Mr G Pretorius (DA) introduced themselves as the Committee Members present in the meeting.

Mr Arendse introduced himself and tendered an apology on behalf of the Premier and the DG, who could not form part of the meeting due to other engagements. He told the Committee that he was with a team from the Department and that they would introduce themselves. Dr Hildegarde Fast, Head: Strategic Planning, would be the Department representative to take the Committee through the presentation.

Prior to commencing the presentation, Dr Fast introduced the following members of the team from the Department of the Premier:

• Ms Alison Goldstack – Director: Economic Policy
• Ms Diketso Mufamadi-Mathebula - Deputy Director: Policy and Strategy (Wellbeing)
• Ms Gwen Dereymaeker - Deputy Director: Policy and Strategy (Safety)
• Ms Sarah Sallie
• Mr Tristan Gorgens - Director: Policy, Strategy and Research, Policy and Strategy Unit

The Chairperson thanked the Department for its introductions and took everyone through the rules of engagement for the meeting. He thereafter handed over to the Department for it to take the Committee through the briefing on Policy Priorities of the Western Cape and alignment to the Provincial Strategic and Implementation Plan.

Briefing by the Department of the Premier: Policy priorities of the WC Department and alignment to the Provincial Strategic Plan and Provincial Strategic Implementation Plan

Dr Hildegarde Fast, Head: Policy & Strategy: Department of the Premier, Western Cape, told the Committee that she would like to reflect on the brief the Department was given and what it was asked to present on. The Department had been asked to present the Policy Priorities and Alignment to the Provincial Strategic Plan (PSP) and Provincial Strategic Implementation Plan (PSIP). She said the Department would show the Committee all its initiatives and how they align with the broader strategic plan. Explaining that she would be presenting on the first few slides, the job slides and wrapping the presentation up at the end, Dr Fast asked the Committee to guide the Department on whether it would want questions to be answered as it moves along with the presentation or at the end. This is because the Department sought to be brief, because of the other items on the agenda.

The Chairperson interjected to explain to Dr Fast and the Department that the Committee normally takes questions at the end of the presentation. However, Committee Members are permitted to raise their hands in the chat function if the presenter is moving through the presentation too fast.

Mr C Dugmore (ANC) proposed that the Committee follow the Chairperson's recommendation that all questions be raised at the end of the presentation. This is because the agenda is quite crowded and if questions are taken during the presentation, the Committee will battle to finish its agenda on time.

The Chairperson thanked Mr Dugmore for his proposal and confirmed that questions would be taken at the end of the presentation.

Dr Fast told the Committee that she would take Members through how the priorities work. Due to how the Department was interrupted by Covid-19, the Department had to reconsider its priorities. She told the Committee that it would be familiar with the Provincial Strategic Plan (PSP) that went up to 2019 and was called the Provincial Strategic Goals (PSGs). At the end of the term, the Department did a review that resulted in the PSP for the period 2019-2024, which is the same in other provinces and at national level. The Department has called it the Vision Inspired Priorities (VIPs) and had five. Innovation and Culture, which was the fifth VIP, was more of an enabler than a priority on its own because it basically supported priorities one to four.

When Covid 19 hit, the Department had many discussions about the implications. It also discussed whether the PSP would change the plan and as the conclusion was that it would elevate certain priorities in the PSP and not replace them. Therefore the PSP is still the guarding document with the recovery plan elevating certain issues. The Department then reformulated the priorities to three, with the last priority (Innovation, Culture and Governance) supporting the other three priorities. Dr Fast explained to the Committee that this did not mean that the Department dropped a whole bunch of programmes. Rather, it elevated and put them into those three buckets.

Speaking about the origins of the PSIP, Dr Fast told the Committee that the Western Cape Safety Plan was developed before the PSP and was one of the informants of the PSP. The Department had in place a recovery plan for 2020 and the PSIP of 2021, which was basically a list of various initiatives that the Department was tracking. Rethinking the recent job priorities and how to make them more impactful. That resulted in a new strategy called The Growth for Jobs Strategy, which was for 2023. It takes the Department right through to where it is today, will take it into the next years, and forms the main document that informs the presentation.

PSP: 2019-2024

Dr Fast told the Committee that this was the graph used for the five key priorities. The five priorities were wrapped around by safety because the Department understood that safety impacts the economy, wellbeing and people's daily lives. So the wrap-around, as shown in the presentation, emphasised the importance of safety.

PSIP Priorities

These show how the Department is moving towards three priorities and how all the priorities relate to one another.

Jobs, Safety and Wellbeing Priorities Overview of the programmes, services and interventions included in the WCG Priorities:

Once again, the Department was requested to indicate its priorities and how they align with jobs, safety and wellbeing. Dr Fast explained that the presentation is not going to touch on the performance per se but will detail what the interventions are all about and that each representative from the Department will be taking the Committee through the different sections.

Jobs Priority

The up and down of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has been of great concern to the Department and only now is the country emerging to the point where the GDP was roughly before Covid.

Quarterly Unemployment Rate and Number of Unemployed, Western Cape

The highest unemployment rate that the Western Cape has experienced is 28% and anything over 5% anywhere in the world is concerning. Dr Fast told the Committee that the Department is overly concerned about anything close to the numbers it is seeing. However, there are times of improvement and times of deterioration.

Growth for Jobs Priority Focus Area, Lever and Enablers

Dr Fast told the Committee that the Department has a strategy for job growth, which includes paying attention to priority focus areas. Under this priority, any question that could likely come up is something that both the Department of Economic Development and the Minister of Economic Opportunities could speak far more eloquently to. For example, if any Committee Member were to ask the Department of the Premier what the difference is between how the previous job priority relates to the growth for jobs strategy, the response would be that the strategy does not pick winners, whereas sometimes previous strategies did. It rather looks at fundamental underpinnings of an economy like how to grow exports overall and how to address binding constraints such as shortage of energy and shortage of water. It also considers how to promote technology and innovation in a way that bolsters the economy. Dr Fast told the Committee that a detailed presentation could be given by the Department of Economic Development.

Details of the job priority as the PSIP: Job Creation

The Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) is not only critical for skills development but also because it provides a source of income to unemployed people. It has been an invaluable lifeline and is across all departments. Although the custodian of the EPWP is the Department of Infrastructure, all Departments have some EPWP work opportunities. Atlantis and Saldanha Bay have been earmarked as Special Economic Zones (SEPs), where training and investment programmes occur. Regarding skills development and employability, Dr Fast told the Committee that the Department has in place economic skills and work placement programmes, as well as agricultural skills development programmes in the agricultural sector and agricultural bursaries in addition to that.

Safety Priority: Homicides

Ms Dereymaeker reminded the Committee about the extremely high levels of interpersonal violence in the country and the province. What is reflected in the presentation is just the tip of the iceberg because there are still extremely high levels of homicide. However, the Department has seen a stabilisation since 2017/18 in recent quarters. The trend in the Western Cape is quite different from that in other provinces, which is quite encouraging.

The strategic approach that the Department has chosen for the safety priority is built on local and international evidence, on what works to reduce violent crime and it has three focus areas in terms of what to deliver. Strengthening social practice factors against violence speaks more to interventions designed to reduce violence in homes and families in communities and to improve safety infrastructure in public spaces, which is why the Department has designed public spaces for safety. What is important is that the Department does not only focus on the 'what' but also the 'how' and this has been a model approach specifically introduced after covid using lessons from the pandemic.

Taking the Committee through these lessons, Ms Dereymaeker told the Committee that, firstly the Department is using a coordinated approach by coordinating local resources through an area-based approach. Secondly, it uses evidence to redesign programmes, based on what exists, what has existed elsewhere and what the Department knows works and is constantly making assessments. The data is then used and so far, the Department has a lot of data from the Department of Health (DoH), the Department of Mobility, and the Department of Community Safety. She confirmed that it is also exploring partnerships with other spheres of government to look at having a rich picture of data that can inform and prioritise interventions.

Details of the safety priority as per the PSIP: law enforcement and urban design

Ms Dereymaeker explained that this part of the presentation details the different interventions that form part of the safety priority and has three components. As a Department, it plays a key role in strengthening provincial oversight, largely done through determining and communicating it's producing needs and priorities. Lastly, law enforcement operations are prioritising drivers of crime, firearms and alcohol. The Department collects data to facilitate work done through the integrated transport hub, which is under the mobility department and the safety dashboards managed by the Department of Health and wellness. This is made available to all law enforcement agencies in the Western Cape, including the South African Police Services (SAPS) and the City of Cape Town.

Under urban design, the Department’s goal is to improve the design of public spaces to increase the feelings of safety through the Regional Socio-Economic Projects (RSEP) Programme, which is managed by the Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning and the primary focus is on strengthening safety dignity and special transformation in a number of Western Cape Town’s outside the metro. The Department is also putting up high perimeter fencing around schools in high priority areas to protect learners and the school infrastructure from crime and abuse. It is also upgrading informal settlements in Priority Housing Development Areas (PHDA), which are also Area Based Teams (ABT) areas by the Department of Infrastructure. The Department of Local Government also conducts a number of risk and vulnerability assessments in a number of areas outside the metro.

Details of the Safety Priority as the PSIP: Violence Prevention

The Department has four main focus areas identified using international evidence of what works to reduce violence combined with what is most in the control of the province. So the Departments live course approach to reducing violence, focuses on strengthening parent-child relationships and does a lot of work in strengthening the quality of parenting programmes by taking an evidence-based approach.

Ms Dereymaeker said that the Department aims to strengthen the resilience and emotional intelligence of the children in the province, who are at risk of violence, which is done through the Chrysalis Academy Program. It has also increased youth-at-risk support, through after-school programmes for children at risk of dropping out of school. The Department has school-based violence reduction programmes that are evidence-backed and it has a number of children who are assessed to be at risk and then referred to targeted support interventions, through the Department of Social Development (DSD).

In terms of decreasing harmful alcohol and drug consumption, the Department is exploring evidence-backed Alcohol Harm Reduction legislative amendments and that is through the Department of Police Oversight and Community Safety and the DSD provides support to substance users through a number of substance abuse treatment programmes. Gender-Based Violence (GBV) is a very big driver of violence, along with harmful social norms and practices and violence. One of the interventions is the psycho-social support provided to victims of GBV.

The Department has two overarching interventions that form part of its violence prevention services. One is through the DoH, with the establishment being finalised and last year, the DSD hired a number of new social service professionals both social workers, social auxiliary workers and the majority of them have been deployed in hospital environments. Ms Dereymaeker concluded that the Department is trying its best to take a holistic approach to areas in most need.

Wellbeing Priority: Outcome Indicators-Human Development Index

When the Department speaks about wellbeing, it is talking about factors in people's lives, so it is difficult to find a single measure that will give the Committee a sense of how things are going. The Human Development Index (HDI) is internationally recognised and it is one of the proxies used to tell a sweeping story about the core elements of people's lives and keeping the Department on track. The story that the graph tells is that there has been a slow but steady improvement in the HDI of the province, over the last number of years. It is easy to be lackadaisical about how slow and steady the curve is; however, if it is considered against the backdrop of various other issues that the Department has been wrestling with over the same period in the economy, the fact that it has consistently improved along the matrices around health, education and general income, tells a very positive story, against some very strong headwinds over this period.

The WCG approach to wellbeing: Adopting a life course approach

The conceptual logic of the wellbeing priority is about following a life course approach, which again is informed by international best practice. What this really means is that the Department tries to think across the whole period of somebodies life to try to make sure that it is providing the maximum number of opportunities for people to really live a full, meaningful life.

Details of the wellbeing priority as per the PSIP: Strong foundations and increased youth wellbeing

The first part of the wellbeing priority focuses on strong foundations and the first 1000 days are the first element of that. It is really about ensuring that mothers and children are supported in the first two years of life, to get the best possible care and a bold fundamental start available to them under the interventions led by the DoH but often supported by other Departments.

That then moves into the early development phase and the first 1000 days lead to the child being two years old. The interventions seen in this phase ensure that Grade One learners receive some preparation in Grade R. Specialised support services are being provided for Early Child Development (ECD) and the after-school care facility is registered through the DSD.

The next part of this priority focuses on increased youth wellbeing, with particular emphasis on retention and improving the learning environment at schools. The Department is looking at improving reading for meaning, maths outcomes and generally a high retention rate, which will convert to keeping kids in school. Part of this is supported by focusing on psychological and social support in schools throughout the Department’s growth mindsets programme and a programme that is specifically targeting violence reduction through socio-motional learning.

Details of the wellbeing priority as per the PSIP: Building social cohesion and meeting basic needs

The next part of the life course takes the Department into providing the social clue that people need to form communities to ensure that the young people support the community as they emerge into later life. The focus here is on after-school programmes the Department of Cultural Affairs & Sport (DCAS) provides. There is a range of opportunities for recreation and learning through sports, recreation programmes and in-service learning opportunities. There is also a range of other important interventions around youth skills development, such as free internet access at Thusong Centres.

The Department is also determined to make sure that its services wrap around supporting vulnerable people, particularly throughout their lives, focusing on health outcomes with particular emphasis on reducing HIV rates in youth, tracking TB patients to make sure that they stay on treatment, making sure that communities and families have access to gardens to improve their food security, making sure that basic services are available and that ultimately support for the most vulnerable in society is provided through meals, through community nutritional development centres supported by the DSD and beds for homeless adults in shelters.

Discussion

Ms D Baartman (DA) asked how departments liaise with one another in cooperation on the respective strategies concerning particular topics. Some strategies are cross Departmental, so to avoid working in insolation, is there some strategic approach?

Mr C Dugmore (ANC) expressed his gratitude to the Department for its presentation and raised several concerns about it. Acknowledging the coordination role of the Department concerning strategies and associated projects, he stressed the need for detailed plans for the various projects. This includes specific numbers for geographic areas because different line departments run projects. He also emphasised the importance of conducting impact assessments to measure the outcomes of these projects.

Regarding the jobs issues, he confirmed that everyone agrees that it is a priority, but the worry was that, once again, there was no reference to the ownership of businesses by historically disadvantaged individuals and asset inequality. While job creation is deemed a priority, how can jobs be linked to the broader wellbeing and inclusivity of the economy?

The fact that 70% of urban land in the Western Cape is owned by South Africans who have been classified as white is worrisome. Why does economic growth not talk about change in ownership patterns or address the issue of asset-based wealth? The issue of inclusivity is not only about jobs but also about ownership.

Mr Dugmore pointed out that the presentation pointed out how there are no winning sectors that are chosen, but the reality is that all evidence shows that the potential for employment, particularly in the agricultural sector, is a big one. In that particular sector, what are the actual strategies to promote job growth within different sectors of the agricultural economy, beyond nationally driven programs like the EPWP? How much of the Provincial revenue has been invested by the province, for public enjoyment from this financial year and not those EPWP programmes?

Addressing the issue of safety, Mr Dugmore emphasised the high extortion levels making safety and mobility in many communities very difficult. This does not only apply to the extortion of South African and Foreign National owned businesses but actual households, which are now paying money for protection in many areas. He said it was concerning that the safety strategy was totally silent. He said he supports the broader approach to change indicators and the link between stats and health strategies.

There is no formal amendment on the table regarding the Alcohol Harm Reduction Bill and surely it should be a very central part of this strategy. Why is there no mention of it? Why is there still no movement on the Bill?

Gangs and substance abuse impacts communities in a very big way and this calls for a strategy to address this critical issue. Why is there no progress in reducing substance abuse? Mr Dugmore called for amendments and strategies, particularly targeting alcohol production and reducing associated harms.

Mr G Pretorius (DA) referred specifically to the slide discussing jobs and the role of Wesgro's specialised economic zones and specialised industrial zones. He asked if an institution like Wesgro would broaden its footprint in the medium to long term. Are Wesgros' operations based on local circumstances and conditions? Are they aimed at the specialised industrial zones or economic zones or the metro? Regarding the combined zones, what are the requirements for an area to be zoned? Mr Pretorius asked the Department to provide guidance regarding this.

Response

Addressing the question regarding departmental liaison strategies, Dr Fast said that what the Department has done, for the transversal strategies, is to put governance mechanisms in place. For example, in the wellbeing priority, which Minister [of Social Development] Fernandez leads, it includes the DSD, Department of Cultural Affairs and Support, and Department of Education and Health. These Departments all work together and when they have meetings, they talk about the transversal strategies. Therefore, some of the safety strategies that Ms Dereymaeker spoke about are classic examples that illustrate that many departments have to work together to address the safety strategy. In the case of the safety strategy, the Department of Community or Provincial Oversight in Community Safety will be involved. The DSD has also been roped in to deploy more social workers to certain high crime areas to address some of the social causes that contribute to the crime. This is just one example of how a strategy can involve many departments, because, in the case of the safety strategy, the DSD and the DoH are deeply involved.

Every initiative or most initiatives that the province has, which are quite large, are transversal in nature and have numerous Departments involved as partners, for example, the food security and nutrition security which cuts across all Departments. Once again, Dr Fast confirmed that there is a lot of inter Departmental liaison on transversal strategies.

Concerning the question from Mr Dugmore about where the Committee can find the detailed spatial plans, Dr Fast said that the understanding is that all of the things being discussed are now being reflected in the Annual Performance Plans (APP). Where details are needed, the respective Standing Committees would give very detailed reports. She told the Committee that the one place where all the details will be found is in the APPs because their reporting process that takes place annually is quite comprehensive.

The Department has now included the Department of Education centrally in jobs priority because at the very base of it, if the Department wants to increase opportunities and increase wealth, then it is going to have to focus on producing scholars that will come out of the education system and will be empowered to fully participate inclusively in society. The procurement and preferential policies, which are ventilated regularly, are discussed in various Standing Committees.

Concerning the different sectors, Dr Fast confirmed that the Department is not neglecting anything. In fact, the agriculture sector receives quite a bit of attention. What is holding the agriculture sector back at the moment is lack of energy and water; if that is not addressed, exports will not succeed. The other major constraint in agriculture is the movement of fresh goods out of the Cape Town Port.

In respect of some of the Department's programmes, it includes extending support to small scale farmers through the extension officers who provide a lot of support. There are also numerous other programmes, including bursaries, that the Department of Agriculture could speak to.

Regarding the public works programme, Dr Fast pointed out that there is a misconception that because the programmes are national, the money comes in from national where in fact, the National Department of Public Works does not provide funding to provinces for public works job offers. It is expected that every department should conduct itself in a way that includes public works programmes. Occasionally there are programmes, like the Yes Youth Programme, that are nationally driven and funded. However, most EPWP programmes that are in provincial departments are, in fact, funded internally. The Department has also initiated several programmes within the province that create jobs for youth; the perfect example is the 'Year Beyond' project.

The Department has employed many young people in its after-school centres as part of the provincially initiated programmes with a public works element. In that situation, the province does not receive money from national but rolls out national public works programmes. Dr Fast told the Committee that the Department is actively designing and rolling out its own and National programmes with its own money.

Responding to Mr Pretorius' question about Wesgro's footprint, Dr Fast told the Committee that Wesgro actually has a very broad footprint which has something to do with the two SEPs, Atlantis and Saldanha Bay. So much of what it does is to facilitate inward investment from global players and work with local players to meet that particular demand. So it is, in fact, very broad. Wesgro has many trade missions that it sends out yearly to drum up as many investments as possible and increase exports. Wesgro certainly has a footprint across the province and globally regarding what it seeks to do.

The criteria are really stringent and the Department has to meet the National criteria, which has to be approved by National Committees that go through the process. Dr Fast told the Committee that there is one economic zone in each province, however, Cape Town is fortunate to have two but it really is a national programme with very stringent criteria to support it because there is very limited money that can support it.

Ms Dereymaeker spoke about some of the work being done between the province and SAPS around extortion. Alcohol harm reduction is a key initiative that forms part of the strategic approach. Regarding the legislative amendments, the public consultation process is part of the regulatory impact assessments. The process is either about to start or has already started.

In terms of extortion, she confirmed that it had become a massive risk and challenge. The province is a space that the Department cannot influence or control. So the Department of Police, Oversight and Community Safety, together with the Department of Mobility, is working closely with SAPS to support it in addressing the problem. The Department is taken through a number of prop joints and one of them being the prop joint on the anti-gang strategy.

Further discussion

Allowing a second round of questions, the Chairperson said that he would start with the two questions he had. Regarding exports, he asked what the collaboration is like between the City of Cape Town and other municipalities in the province regarding trade promotion through Wesgro. He pointed out to the Committee that there was something that he had seen and it described agribusinesses, giving an example of Langeberg and Ashton Tiger Brands and the salvaging of that company in Ashton. How is that collaboration happening to foster exports other than for agribusinesses?

Regarding wellbeing, the Chairperson said that on slide 23 of the presentation, there was mention of the after-school programs and free internet access in public libraries. However, there was no mention of the Cape access centres. How are the Cape access centres helping to build social cohesion and wellbeing in that space?

Response

Dr Fast explained that Wesgro will facilitate exports if a particular business challenge is being experienced. For example, with Ashton, whether there is business distress or it is experiencing problems with exporting through the port of Cape Town, that would be something that would be attended to by the Department of Economic Development rather than the City per se, because the City focuses within its borders. Even though there is often some sort of information sharing across those boundaries, the Department of Economic Development would be most actively involved.

She told the Committee that the Cape access centres are doing a tremendous job and play an important part in facilitating inclusionary internet access, which is critical, especially for students who do not have the means to pay for data and that the Department is actively pursuing that.

In closing, Mr Arendse expressed gratitude to the Committee on behalf of the Department for allowing it to give its presentation and for taking an interest in its important work. He also thanked Dr Fast for leading the team through the process of building up to the presentation. He also appreciated the questions raised by Members, saying that they help the Department improve the quality of its work.

The Chairperson thanked Dr Fast and the entire team from the Department for their time and effort regarding the comprehensive presentation that was delivered. He then excused the Department from the meeting so the Committee could proceed with the remaining agenda items.

Deliberation on the Draft Western Cape Provincial Powers Bill, 2023

The Chairperson reminded the Committee that the Western Cape Power Bill was tabled in the previous meeting. The intention of the Bill is to create a framework for the Western Cape to assert its existing constitutional, legislative and executive powers and to seek the devolution or delegation of further powers from national government. The Bill is also motivated by the recognition that in areas both within and outside the Western Cape’s constitutional competence, the national government is unable or unwilling to act in the best interest of the residents of the Western Cape. The Western Cape Parliament and the Provincial Executive have an obligation to act in the best interests of all its residents. He told the Committee that they could only do so by identifying the areas where the assertion of provincial powers is necessary and systematically taking all available legal steps to provide services to its residents.

The Chairperson explained to the Committee that the goal of the Bill is to create an overarching framework within which subject specification, specific provincial legislation, regulation and policies, proposed national legislation and requests for the delegation of national competencies will be considered. While this Bill is primarily concerned with provincial powers and functions, it also recognises that the Western Cape must work together with local government in the province. It therefore includes provisions to integrate the assertion and the accumulation of the provincial powers within the role and powers of local government.

Section two sets out the five objectives of the Act, which are as follows:

• To identify the unlimited failures of national government
• To promote the assertions of existing provincial powers
• To actively seek the assignment or delegation of additional powers

The mandate of the Western Cape Provincial Government is to prepare reports and draft Bills to fulfil those objectives and to create a mechanism for the Western Cape Parliament to introduce national legislation in the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) through its delegates.

Section three identifies five areas where the province should assert existing powers or seek additional powers (policing, public transport, energy, trade and harbours). The Chairperson told the Committee that subsections three create a substantive obligation for the Western Cape Provincial Government in all provincial and local government areas to promote provincial autonomy in all its actions and seek to assign or delegate additional powers from national government. 

Section four obliges the Premier to table a report for each area of provincial and local autonomy within six months of the Act being enforced. Each report must identify the respective powers of the city government, address the ways in which national government has failed to govern effectively, list the additional powers of the province, and include (if appropriate) draft provincial legislation that will delegate additional powers to the Western Cape.

Section five establishes a Standing Committee of ten Members from the Western Cape Parliament, called the Provincial Powers Committee. The Committee's functions are to consider section four reports, invite and consider public comment, and appoint its own experts to advise it on those reports. Having considered those reports, the Committee will recommend what steps the Western Cape Provincial Parliament should take in that area of provincial and local autonomy. Once the Premier has reported and the Provincial Powers Committee has made a recommendation, the Western Cape Provincial Parliament must act. The Committee is afforded three months after receipt of the recommendation to adopt a resolution by taking one of the following actions: approving the report, requiring the provincial government to supplement the report, directing the Provincial Powers Committee to introduce draft provincial legislation, directing its delegates to the NCOP to introduce draft national legislation and making recommendations to the Assembly. In terms of s104(5) of the Constitution, the National Assembly can adopt or amend national legislation and finalise any other resolution consistent with the objectives of the Bill.

The Chairperson concluded by inviting Committee Members to deliberate on the Bill tabled before them.

Discussion

Ms Baartman said that having read all seven clauses of the Bill, she was quite happy that it deals with aligning the policy priorities of the province and the alignment of the PSP and PSIP. The Bill also deals with many areas of competency where the Western Cape Government and its Executive have previously indicated that there are obstacles to the province and its residents that it would like to address.

She said that she moves to support that the draft becomes a Committee Bill and that it is introduced as such. She also said that through the Chairperson, perhaps the legal office could be asked to help the Committee to create a memo for the Bill so it is a little easier for people to understand the content of the various clauses, otherwise in terms of the technicalities; she said that she was happy with the content.

The Chairperson then asked if there was any seconder for the resolution and Mr Pretorius said that he concurs with Ms Baartman’s suggestions and supports the Bill and the tabling of it.

The Chairperson asked if any Members wished to declare otherwise.

There were no further comments.

The Chairperson told the Committee that in terms of Standing Rule number 120, he would introduce the Bill to the Speaker for tabling in the House and would also request legal services to assist with the memorandum that has to accompany the Bill. He thereafter concluded the deliberations on the Western Cape Provincial Power Bill of 2023.

Committee meeting minutes dated 26 May 2023

The minutes were considered and adopted.

Committee actions/resolutions

Ms Baartman said that she was quite surprised to find out in the meeting from Dr Fast that the majority of the EPWP funding comes from the province, even though it is a national programme. Is the Committee able to ask through the Department of Premier for the statistics of the funding and the split of funding? How much is given by the province and how much is by national?

The Chairperson asked the Committee Procedural Officer to record this.

Mr Pretorius said he would like to return to the matter regarding Wesgro’s footprint. He said he is well aware of its footprint; however, very respectfully, he has yet to see projects being rolled out in rural areas. He said he was not talking about Atlantis or the metro but where he comes from, which is George. He said that he would like to see where Wesgro has actually been assisting in the implementation and rollout of projects and if that information is available, he would love to see it.

The Chairperson thanked Mr Pretorius for his input and confirmed that he had taken note of his concerns.

With the Committee having no further resolutions and actions to contribute, the Chairperson expressed gratitude to the Members for their participation in the meeting and expressed anticipation for the responses to the resolutions and actions.

The meeting was adjourned.