Premier gives update on Cape safety plans
PREMIER Alan Winde took advantage of his budget adjustments speech for the Department of the Premier to provide an update on the provincial safety plan, as well as several projects aimed at improving internet connectivity across the province.
Winde said: “The roll out of the broadband strategy and implementation plan progressed well. During the first phase of the broadband project, 1 875 sites were connected. The second phase has commenced and by November, 898 sites had been upgraded to minimum speeds of 1GB per second.
“Twenty-one municipalities have been connected so far.”
With regard to the safety plan, the premier said: “This is a joint plan across all of government which will see the ramping up of violence prevention strategies in at-risk communities, as well as increased boots on the ground. The provincial government has kick started the implementation of the plan by already having made funds available through the adjustments process, instead of waiting for the commencement of the new financial year.”
Replying to the premier’s speech, ANC leader in the legislature, Cameron Dugmore, said: “The budget shows a commitment to boots on the ground, but not a single cent allocated to the causes that contribute to violence.”
Winde replied: “There are two sides to the equation. The one is boots on the ground and the other one is how every single one of the provincial government’s departments are involved in planning and budgeting for that process. When you take over a government, it comes with an existing budget, and if you want to realign priorities, you’ve got to put it into your plans.”
The Premier revealed that his department had been managing recruitment through a special committee which determined whether or not posts needed to be filled immediately or whether or not they could be filled at a later stage.
“This strategy had yielded a R34 million saving, which has been surrendered to the provincial Treasury to help ease the fiscal pressures the province is experiencing at the moment.”