Cape Town - Premier Alan Winde has cited Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi (ANC) as an ally in the battle to get the national government to transfer its powers over rail transport and policing to the provinces.
Addressing the monthly Cape Town Press Club lunch on Friday, Winde said during the 2019 election he campaigned on changing the policing of the province and was still pushing that agenda.
“I’m still absolutely determined that we need to have decision-making on policing at the local level.
“I’ve got a huge ally now, in devolution of policing. He probably is not able to be as vocal on a platform like this as I am, and his name is (Gauteng Premier Panyaza) Lesufi.
“If you go and have a look at his boots on the ground programme, you will see he is copying what we’re doing.”
In April this year, Lesufi unveiled an anti-crime unit that would be deployed to hostels, townships and informal settlements in the province. The unit is similar to the Western Cape’s Law Enforcement Advancement Plan (Leap) launched in 2020 by Winde.
“He and I say the same thing. Gauteng is an absolute ally in getting devolution on rail, they want it just as much as we want it, because we know it is the backbone to getting the public transport system going.”
He said the DA was taking devolution to the “next level” with the legislation it had brought to the provincial legislature by way of the Western Cape Provincial Powers Bill.
Winde dismissed the Freedom Front Plus-sponsored Western Cape People’s Bill introduced at the same time as secessionist and driven by populism.
Last week, the legislature voted to establish an ad hoc committee on the Western Cape Provincial Powers Bill. The bill is out for public comment until August 7
The bill’s sponsor, DA MPL Christopher Fry said: “The bill seeks to protect the people of the Western Cape against ANC state failure by seeking the devolution and expansion of critical powers such as policing, public transport, energy, trade and harbours.”
In a debate in the legislature on Thursday, leader of the opposition Cameron Dugmore said the DA was failing at the competencies that the Constitution endows them with, yet the party’s representatives had “the audacity to ask for devolution of other competencies”.
mwangi.githahu@inl.co.za