ANC vows to keep DA on its toes
CAMERON Dugmore, ANC leader in the Western Cape legislature, said his strategy to keep the DA provincial government on its toes would rest on five pillars – vigilance, effectiveness, responsiveness, hard work and constructive opposition.
Dugmore said: “The impression has been created to show that issues of nepotism, patronage and corruption happen everywhere else except for in the DA-run Western Cape. However, instances such as that recently reported from George Municipality show the need for vigilance.”
Dugmore was referring to an alleged investment and kickback scheme under investigation in the DA-led George Municipality.
“We’ll use our access to national departments to get information to track the promises made by the DA-led provincial government,” Dugmore said.
He said his team, which he described as “hard working and passionate”, based on what he had seen of it at the orientation activities organised by the provincial legislature, would set up an information database to track issues and promises made in Parliament on behalf of the voters.
Dugmore said the ANC planned to introduce legislation in Parliament to push for “worker ownership of businesses”. “We expect big business in the Western Cape to welcome worker participation, and if we find any resistance we’ll campaign strongly to overcome it,” he said.
The party’s chief whip in the legislature, Patronella Lekker, said: “The fact that in the election for deputy speaker only 23 instead of the full complement of 24 members voted for the DA candidate shows our democracy is maturing, and as such, it’s not numbers but policies that matter.”
She said the vote showed there were some in the DA who might want to work with the ANC to pursue ideas that would be useful across the board.
Deputy chief whip Khalid Sayed said: “We intend to be a strong, vibrant opposition that works with others to bring the provincial government to account.”