Review of premier’s performance off the mark

THE review of Premier Alan Winde’s performance by the Cape Argus (January 4, 2022) is inaccurate and disappointing.

The fact is that Premier Alan Winde heads the best-run provincial government in South Africa, with the lowest unemployment rate, the best public health system, an extensive provincial safety plan with more than 1 000 additional boots on the ground, a quality education system with improved retention rates and the highest bachelor pass rate, and when doing so, delivers corruption-free, clean government (the most clean by some margin).

He has led a government responsible for, by far, the best, corruption-free response to Covid-19, with the highest vaccination coverage in South Africa.

The journalist questions the premier’s intention to procure vaccines as a fault but omits mentioning that, at the time, the national government had failed to do so, leaving provincial governments, which have a shared competency for health under the Constitution, unable to deliver life-saving vaccines.

As set out in the Western Cape government’s Mid-Term Review, this government has gone above and beyond to deliver jobs, safety and well-being, despite the serious challenges created by the Covid-19 pandemic and restrictions imposed by the national government.

In doing so, the premier has led a government committed to being agile and innovative and has been at the forefront of transparent communication through his weekly digital press conferences.

Over the next two and a half years, the premier is committed to delivering recovery that creates the jobs our province needs to move forward. We need to fight the second pandemic of unemployment and crime by growing the economy and ensuring opportunities across our province. We are committed to doing so.