By Charles Molele
Western Cape Premier Alan Winde said Wednesday night clean audits demonstrated that DA-run municipalities were managing public funds responsibly, ensuring that every rand is spent to directly benefit the community.
Winder was delivering the province’s State of the Province Address (SOPA) in Beaufort West, Central Karoo, where he outlined his government’s action plan for 2025.
He said during the 2022/23 financial year, 20 Western Cape municipalities received an unqualified audit opinion with no findings, and six municipalities received an unqualified audit with findings.
“Clean audits are not just a measure of good governance and sound financial management,” said Winde.
“They reflect our commitment to quality service delivery, improving the lives of our residents, and proving that we are a government of integrity.”
Last year, Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke released the 2022/23 consolidated report on local government audit outcomes, which revealed that the City of Cape Town was the only metro to achieve a clean audit.
Of the 257 municipalities nationwide, 34 received clean audits, with 58.8% of them from Western Cape.
Winde also unveiled his administration’s efforts to position the Western Cape as a leader in sustainable energy.
“Last year, I joined the Premiers of the Eastern Cape and Northern Cape in Qatar to advance our Green Hydrogen (GH2) initiatives,” he said.
He noted the “Three Capes” GH2 corridor initiative aimed at driving economic growth, creating jobs, and accelerating the transition to net-zero emissions.
He said municipalities such as Hessequa have initiated significant projects like the R210 million solar project in Riversdale to eliminate load shedding, while others like Saldanha Bay, Cape Town, and Stellenbosch are scaling up renewable energy adoption.
Reflecting on recent challenges, Winde mentioned overcoming severe fires and collaborating with Eskom to restore power to over 40,000 Central Karoo residents.
“A year ago, we battled some of the worst fires and worked with Eskom to get the lights back on for over 40,000 residents of the Central Karoo. Two years before that we were emerging from the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Before that we were stretching every drop of water, making sure that Cape Town’s taps did not run dry. Each of these moments and many more forced us to find new solutions, and today,” he said.
“I am proud to stand here and say that we have partnered with municipalities and the private sector that will add 5 700 MW of affordable, reliable renewable energy to the grid by 2035.”
Looking ahead, Winde said economic growth and job creation remained his top priorities for the next five years.
“Our singular focus for the next five years is clear: we will do everything we can to help businesses drive economic growth so that they create more jobs, so that you our residents can get those jobs,” he said.
He said more people can now find a job in the Western Cape than anywhere else in the country.
“For the last half of 2024 our employment rate was below 20% at 19,6% … This commitment is encapsulated in our Provincial Strategic Plan 2025 – 2030 and is aligned to the national Medium-Term Development Plan, which will guide our work over the next term,” said Winde.
“The Western Cape now leads on all four employment metrices that Statistics South Africa measures quarterly.”
He said a job is more than just financial security; it gives you purpose.
“It restores dignity. But weak national economic growth is holding us back” he said, adding that the GDP per capita in 2023 was lower than it was in 2012.
He said that means that rather than South Africans getting richer, they are in fact getting poorer, and the only way to change that is through strong economic growth which is the foundation of job creation.
“But between 2019 and 2023, the national economy grew by an average of just 0.3% per year,” he said.
“Over the last five years, national employment increased by just 2.1%, not even keeping up with population growth – there were 58 million South Africans in 2019 with our population estimated at 63 million in 2024.”
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