Democratic Alliance's (DA) short-sighted attacks on Western Cape's economic
co-operation with India, Dubai, Saudi Arabia and Turkey
10 November 2006
Acting Premier Leonard Ramatlakane is extremely perturbed by the Democratic
Alliance's short-sighted attack on Premier Ebrahim Rasool's visit to India,
Dubai, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
This African National Congress (ANC) Government is committed to developing
relationships that secure foreign direct investment and promote public
partnerships. This is in the context of the opportunities that democracy and
economic stability have brought and so that we maximise the potential benefits
of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Theuns Botha, the DA's leader in the Western Cape, obviously has very little
interest in seeing economic growth in the province. The Premier's visit to
Dubai, for example, comes in the wake of the R7-billion sale of the V&A
Waterfront and discussions around the further multi-billion rand re-development
of the Waterfront and foreshore area, benefiting the whole province. These are
not small investments and the people of the Western Cape will no doubt benefit
from this inflow of capital.
Furthermore, the Premier's trip to India, one of the world's rising economic
giants is also aimed at securing investments in the film, call centre, business
process outsourcing, tourism and agricultural sectors. On his departure,
Premier Rasool said: "If we can persuade Bollywood to do some of their filming
in Cape Town and secure about 200 filming days a year, then our film studio
will already be a success and the great expertise we have will be put to good
use."
Botha's statement is also riddled with half-truths aimed at misleading the
public and scoring cheap political points. He said in a statement on Thursday:
"The Premier will be overseas when his department must appear before the
standing committee and Scopa." If Botha had any respect for the truth, he would
have told the public that the Premier and his department in fact appeared at
length before Scopa on 20 October 2006. In his absence, the Acting Premier, MEC
Ramatlakane, has authority to deal with any further business in this regard.
Government does not grind to a halt when the Premier is out of the country
seeking crucial investment in the province. In any case in which an MEC is out
of the country, an acting MEC is appointed. There is therefore never a
vacuum.
Botha's insinuation that democracy is under threat in the Western Cape is a
cheap publicity stunt which has little or no relevance to the business of the
provincial government or the legislature. But this is not surprising; Botha is,
after all, leader of the DA, a party which has proven to be largely irrelevant
to the overwhelming majority of South Africans. It is ironic that Theuns Botha
should raise matters such as this, given that he himself as leader of the
Opposition infrequently attends sessions of the Legislature.
The interests of the overwhelming majority of poor South Africans are being
served by this Government as it seeks to create jobs and address poverty
through the Provincial Growth and Development Strategy and securing
investments. But clearly jobs and poverty alleviation are not the DA's
priority. South African and Western Cape citizens know that Mr Botha�s party's
claim that democracy is under threat are false and that in fact, the Western
Cape has never known a period of such prolonged stability, growth and
investment; only an ANC Government has been able to achieve this.
Enquiries:
Siviwe Minyi
Tel: (021) 483 6674
Cell: 082 898 1669
E-mail: sminyi@pgwc.gov.za
Issued by: Western Cape Provincial Government
10 November 2006
