The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Limpopo Legislature says Premier Phophi Ramathuba’s address did not inspire confidence.
Ramathuba officially opened the provincial legislature in Polokwane on Friday. She outlined her administration’s job creation plans, which will focus on sectors including mining, agriculture, manufacturing and tourism.
DA MPL Lindy Wilson says, “I’m not sure if I should laugh or cry. It was very indicative of the premier who is completely out of touch with this province, what the people need and what the situation is. We saw there are discussions around agriculture.”
Wilson says, “She said that we must be biased towards rural farmers, yes, our rural farmers need support, big farmers have lost thousands and thousands of hectares of crops due to frost and fire. She couldn’t discuss, the bad disasters that are going to cost thousands and thousands of people jobs. She’s dealing with it as a disaster, she was saying we must rather support the smaller rural farmers.”
“She talks about a six-month turnaround strategy for Zebediela. There is nothing left. The trees are gone the infrastructure has been destroyed, there is no electricity, the transformer is gone the railway lines are gone, the water pipes have gone,” she adds.
Meanwhile, United Africans Transformation (UAT) representative Mighty Mabula says Ramathuba is neglecting land reform in the province.
Mabula says, “The speech that the Premier said today, there is nothing new, we have been listening to the same thing for the past 30 years. There is no clear indication in terms of how land will be transferred to the people, or how our people will be able to benefit from this powerful resource. Yes, hunger is the number one poverty, I mean hunger is a number one enemy in the country.”
Some young people in Limpopo say they are confident that the new government will make creating jobs and providing free education its priority. Unemployment remains a challenge, particularly for the youth.
Source: eNCA
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