Today the Western Cape’s Premier, Helen Zille addressed the residents of the Western Cape and presented some of the achievements the City has made in her State of the Province Address.
Here are some of the main points she highlighted in the address.
1. Rail Safety
In just over three months, the new Rail Enforcement Unit has conducted over 11 800 searches and arrested 52 individuals across 75 operations.
2. School Safety
To help make learning safer, the Western Cape has implemented a dedicated Safe Schools call centre.
3. Walking Bus and school holiday programmes
The government has encouraged over 2 000 parents and volunteers to get involved with ensuring the safety of school children through “Walking Buses” in more than 75 communities.
4. Major Sporting Events
From just 25 events when the DA first took office in 2009, the Western Cape Government has increased its support of major sporting events by 248%.
5. Broadband Connectivity
The City reached its target of full broadband coverage in the province reaching a total of 1 875 sites, including more than 1 200 schools.
6. School Infrastructure
Since 2009, the government has built an average of 13 schools and 206 new classrooms every year.
7. Disaster Management
Resources have enabled the government to lead SA’s largest fire-fighting effort in Knysna and surrounding areas in 2017, during which 10 000 people were evacuated.
8. Climate Change Innovation and Drought Relief
Since 2017, R200 million has been spent on direct drought relief for farmers.
9. Drought Relief in Agriculture
Technological innovations such as Fruitlook have enabled farmers to cut their farms’ water use by as much as 30%.
10. Energy Security
Conservation farming has delivered an economic benefit of R341 million.
11. Jobs
With 508 000 new jobs created since 2009, the Western Cape’s unemployment rate is 14% lower than the national average.
Picture: Twitter