Cape Town - Western Cape Premier Alan Winde has urged his cabinet and the entire provincial government to work even harder this year with increased determination to keep improving the lives of people living in the province.
Winde was speaking at this year’s first provincial cabinet meeting, where he and his team discussed various issues concerning the provincial government.
“We are facing challenging months until the end of this administration’s term and beyond. We must continue to steady the ship, all the while keeping the needs of our residents foremost. Long-term thinking and planning should guide everything we do.
”The Western Cape will continue to be the province of hope. We have become the hope for South Africa,” said Winde.
He said the province enjoyed an amazing festive season, and visitors from across the country and the world chose the Western Cape as their holiday destination.
“We must build on this positive momentum in 2024 to keep growing our economy and creating more jobs.”
The premier also expressed his gratitude to all disaster management officials in the province for all they did over the festive season in battling fires and managing other incidents.
“This was a challenging festive season for our firefighters, and we know that they still have a way to go. Thank you to all of our officials for working so hard while some of us had a chance to relax and refresh,” said Winde.
Cabinet received an update on the progress of the R88.815 million Emergency Municipal Load-Shedding Relief (EMLR) Grant given to municipalities across the Western Cape early last year to protect critical services during high stages of power cuts.
Grants were shared among municipalities after they expressed that one of their most critical emergency needs is assistance with once-off funding to acquire generators.
The funding is said to enable 24 local municipalities and the five district municipalities to keep providing basic services such as potable water and hygienic and environmentally safe sewage, even when Eskom cannot keep the lights on.
“(Last year) saw the worst year of load shedding to date, which placed services such as the supply of water and sanitation at serious risk. The provincial government stepped in and made the emergency funds available to local governments to address this risk,” said Winde.