GOOD Statement by Matthew Cook,
GOOD National Chairperson and City of Johannesburg Councillor
20 February 2025
On the 24th of February 2025, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi will make his State of the Province address amid several crises in the province, where water and electricity are both sporadically shut off with little notice. The provinces departments of Health and Social Development are both mired in corruption scandals, while the most vulnerable citizens are left to suffer with no support.
The Premier will likely paint an entirely different picture of the province, talking about expanding the Gautrain to Soweto and dreaming aloud about a bullet train between Joburg and Limpopo – as he did during the State of the Nation debate last week. No mention will be made of the shambles that is the crumbling infrastructure in much of the province, where hospitals and courtrooms are unable to operate effectively due to a lack of water and electricity.
What is really needed from the Premier is an honest assessment of the decay in the province and practical steps to turn the province around, not political rhetoric or posturing. Instead of telling us that the province’s crime rate keeps him awake at night – as he did during the Province’s 100 days in office, the Premier must tell us what his government intends to do about it.
A first step would be to rescind the decision to reinstate the officials allegedly involved in over R600 million worth of corruption at the Gauteng Department of Social Development. MEC Faith Mazibuko, who publicly apologized to NPOs for the “funding bungle” in July of 2024, should be suspended pending a full investigation.
The Premier must provide a detailed account of how the province is going to tackle the funding crisis in the Department of Health, where the National Treasury has refused to fund the R291 million needed for 1,180 critical posts due to cost of employment overruns and wasteful expenditure by the government. While unemployed doctors suffer the consequences of a failing government, hospitals in the most financially critical province are woefully understaffed.
There is no time for headline grabbing and fantastical depictions of a province which simply do not match reality. This years SOPA must chart a course of action that indicates genuine political will to solve the polycrisis in the province.
Wishful thinking and grand proposals that lack actionable steps will not be enough to save the province from the multitude of governance failures it is experiencing. After all, it is the most vulnerable who suffer most when government does not do its job.
Media Enquiries:
Matthew Cook, GOOD National Chairperson and City of Johannesburg Councillor
Cell: 074 359 8237
Email: matthewc@forgood.org.za
Samantha Jackson, GOOD: Media Manager
Cell: 083 5509875
Email: samantha@forgood.org.za