The Western Cape Premier, Helen Zille, delivered the State of the Province Address (SOPA) in Western Cape Provincial Parliament today.

Here are some important points from her address:

  • The Western Cape has achieved the lowest expanded unemployment rate in the country at 23%, and has the largest gains in job creation having added 106 000 more jobs in the fourth quarter of 2017 alone.
  • The Western Cape is effectively managing the provincial drought disaster. Day Zero has been moved out by an additional four months to 9 July 2018, with water augmentation projects coming online as early as April 2018.
  • The DA has secured R7,2 billion in investments, 64 trade deals worth R11 billion, and R691 million in African Expansion Deals. 
  • The province has allocated more than R500 million to 357 businesses which have been beneficiaries of land reform farms. 
  • The city’s title deed backlog sits at 25%, where the national backlog is at 59%.
  • The Premier’s Advancement of Youth Project (PAY) has created close to 4300 internships since 2012, at a value of R31 million, affording deserving matriculants an opportunity to enter the public sector for skills development and employment opportunity.
  • Western Cape government has built on average 4.5 libraries each year. Furthermore, the province has full broadband access at 200 libraries, more than 1 200 schools and 400 other public facilities.

Read the full speech: https://www.westerncape.gov.za/news/premier-helen-zille-delivers-state-province-address-2018

 

 

Pictures: Twitter and DA.org

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Nidha Narrandes is a food-obsessed travel addict with 21 years of journalism experience. Her motto - Travel. Eat. Repeat. She is happiest on a road to nowhere without a plan. A masterchef at home, she can't do without chilli - because chilli makes the world a tastier place.