Cape Town - Community Safety MEC Albert Fritz has blamed instability and violence in the province on the EFF.
Presenting his department’s R739 million budget for the 2021/22 financial year, Fritz said: “Let me state that the EFF is a big part of our problem in terms of stability in this province. They don’t stop the violence, they cause the violence.”
Fritz, who was replying to criticism during the debate from EFF provincial chairperson Melikhaya Xego, said: “Xego is part of the problem. I don’t even want to address what he says, because he is many a time a part of the problems that make this an unsafe province. He is the cause of the unsafe province.”
At this point, ANC community safety provincial spokesperson Mesuli Kama rose on a point of order and asked Deputy Speaker Beverley Schäfer to rule on whether Fritz was casting aspersions on a member of the legislature.
Schäfer said she would check what was said and come back with a ruling.
Earlier, Xego said: “The Western Cape remains an unsafe province with no progressive plans whatsoever on how to address and deal with the issues of crime.”
Xego said: “The police in this country and in this province operate under the system which teaches them to only serve the interests of white people.
“The recent killings of our people, six of them in Mfuleni, is a clear sign that the safety plans by this department are not anywhere close to servicing the people in poor areas, in particular, our black townships, that are always being abandoned as far as the plans of this department are concerned.”
During the debate, Kama warned the department against what he said were attempts by the Western Cape Liquor Authority (WCLA) to destroy black-owned businesses.
Kama said: “The budget for the WCLA has increased significantly. We want to warn that the continued targeting and purging of black-owned businesses by the Liquor Authority will be met with the might and power of the people.”
Kama’s remark was flagged by MPL Riccardo Mackenzie (DA), who asked Schäfer to rule on whether Kama was threatening the liquor authority.
Schäfer said she would check Hansard and make a ruling at the next sitting.
Cape Argus