Premier

As has been stated in previous replies, accountability remains a foundational principal for the Western Cape Government’s success, being one of the six key values upon which we base our behaviour as employees of the Western Cape Government and as servants of the of the Western Cape’s residents. As members of the Western Cape Government (WCG) Executive, provincial Ministers and the Premier are expected to adhere to these values in their work.

The Premier and Provincial Ministers are held accountable in the following ways –

• The WCG Cabinet is collectively responsible for the policies it adopts and the decisions that it makes;
• Ministers are accountable to the Premier and may be removed by him;
• Members of the WCG Executive are accountable to Chapter 9 and 10 institutions in terms of the Constitution;
• Members of the WCG Executive are accountable to the Western Cape Provincial Parliament, through –
• The Budget Committee and Standing Committees including the Standing Committee on Public Accounts;
• Parliament’s consideration of the Appropriation Bill, Adjusted Appropriation Bill and individual Budget Votes;
• Replies to Written and Oral Parliamentary Questions, and Interpellations;
• The Western Cape is also unique in allowing regularly scheduled questions without notice to the Premier ; and
• Members of the WCG Executive are accountable to residents and communities for their performance in their portfolios and may be voted out of office.

In addition to these measures, the Premier meets regularly with his Cabinet members and relevant senior ministerial and departmental staff to discuss progress on ministerial priorities, responses to urgent crises, and overall progress toward the realisation of the goals set out in the 2025-2030 Provincial Strategic Plan. These discussions also include the accounting officers of each budgetary vote, and we continue to make use of Annual Performance Plans, the budget, and Annual Reports as accountability instruments in assessing the financial and non-financial performance of each department and ministry.

If an area of underperformance is identified, action is taken to identify measures through which underperformance might be rectified, and through which our service delivery offering might be improved. Additionally, the Premier frequently conducts oversight to various parts of the province to observe the performance of our government. The findings from these visits will in turn form part of discussions with the Ministers, and at Cabinet.

In part as a result of these measures, as well as the rigorous oversight of this House, our provincial Ministers are typically well-equipped and motivated to proactively and tirelessly accomplish their respective mandates, and to respond to the challenges facing the Western Cape.

Among other initiatives, in recent months we have seen the Western Cape Government take steps to:

• Continue to lead South Africa on employment, boasting not only the lowest unemployment rate in South Africa, but also a broad unemployment rate some 5% lower than the next closest province’s narrow unemployment rate;
• Partner wth civil society and the private sector to launch the innovative Khulisa Care project, which directly responds to food insecurity and childhood stunting by providing free access to healthy foods and targeted medical support to critical groups;
• Take extraordinary measures to work with the taxi industry to reduce violence and criminal incidents affecting commuters – including the closure of certain routes and increasing of law enforcement at certain ranks in order to stabilise the sector, deadly violence and protect lives; and
• Launch several landmark housing initiatives to deliver affordable, well-located, inner-city housing developments such as Founders Garden and the Leeuloop Precinct, and deliver more than 6 000 title deeds, greatly exceeding departmental targets for housing delivery.

We take our commitments to the people of the Western Cape, and the House which represents them, seriously. Only by holding ourselves accountable can we ensure we get the basics right, and demonstrate the higher standard of governance President Ramaphosa recently observed as present in DA-governed parts of our nation.