Cape Town - In a bid to make the provincial government more accessible to voters Premier Alan Winde on Wednesday announced the launch of First Thursdays across the Western Cape beginning on August 1.
The scheme is one of the initiatives that the premier promised to implement after he took office in May and will see Winde, his MECs and their departmental teams gather in the foyer of the provincial parliament building on Wale Street ready to engage with members of the public directly from 5pm to 9pm on the first Thursday of every month.
Winde first tried out the First Thursday’s initiative in 2017 when he was MEC for Economic Opportunities. At that time he moved to a government building in Long Street and joined the already existing and popular First Thursday initiative, where all the local art galleries in the CBD are open to the public until 9pm.
“This is part of how we intend to do things differently, with open government. An important part of governing involves being in touch with the people who rely on your services and the opportunities you aim to provide,” said Winde, who was speaking at the South African Ubuntu Foundation Networking Business breakfast on the topic “Just radically do your job”.
The premier promised that he and his MECs would be open and approachable, and said: “There will be no appointments needed to see your government on that day. Video: Mwangi Githahu/Cape Argus
On Wednesday, the premier promised that he and his MECs would be open and approachable, and said: “There will be no appointments needed to see your government on that day.
“The people of South Africa and the Western Cape in particular are tired of politicians playing politics, we need to radically do our job.”
Alongside the premier at the function was ANC leader in the Legislature, Cameron Dugmore, who spoke on the role of the opposition in the Western Cape Legislature. The function, which is a regular event, was the first time that the premier of the province and the leader of the opposition have shared a podium. Both have been involved in provincial politics for the past two decades.
Cameron added: “As the opposition we will not just hold the provincial government to account, but we will sometimes offer to hold their hand when we need to sort out certain issues in the province collaboratively. Yes we have differences, but these must not hinder us from working to better the lives of our people.”
Alongside the premier at the function was ANC leader in the Legislature, Cameron Dugmore, who spoke on the role of the opposition in the Western Cape Legislature. Video: Mwangi Githahu/Cape Argus
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