Some of SA’s provinces will hold their respective state of the province addresses this week following President Cyril Ramaphosa’s state of the nation address earlier in February.
The week will begin with Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi giving his inaugural state of the province address on Monday after David Makhura resigned as premier in 2022 before being elected to the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC). Lesufi is expected to outline the province’s plans to mitigate the energy crisis and prevailing socioeconomic challenges and will also deal with the long-standing issue of e-tolls.
“The state of the province address will reflect on the progress made by the Gauteng provincial government (GPG) in delivering on the commitments made to the people of Gauteng in the previous year and outline GPG commitments for the year ahead,” provincial legislature spokesperson Themba Khumalo said.
Gauteng is the economic heartland of SA and the single biggest contributor to SA’s GDP.
The Eastern Cape and Limpopo will present their respective state of the province addresses on Thursday.
Trade union federation Cosatu will hold its three-day strategic planning meeting this week. The meeting, which begins on Monday, is expected to discuss organisational, political and socioeconomic issues affecting workers.
In parliament, finance minister Enoch Godongwana will present the 2023/2024 budget on Wednesday. He is expected to outline the government’s plans to deal with various economic hurdles such as load-shedding, unemployment and the rising cost of living while remaining within the country’s fiscal goals.
The minister “will also outline the funds to be allocated to different spheres of government, departments and entities”, parliament spokesperson Moloto Mothapo said.
Godongwana’s presentation will be preceded by what the DA calls its “alternative budget” on Monday when the opposition party’s finance spokesperson Dion George will outline its plans for creating jobs, keeping the lights on and curbing debt.
On Thursday, the National Assembly will debate the Electoral Amendment Bill as amended by the National Council of Provinces and subsequently also by the home affairs committee. The Constitutional Court in 2022 gave parliament until February 28 to adopt the bill, which will allow independent candidates to run for national and provincial elections.
On Friday, the department of mineral resources & energy and energy and the Independent Power Producers Office will brief the portfolio committee on mineral resources and energy on the independent power producers procurement programme. The programme is aimed at bringing additional generation capacity onto the grid to ease load-shedding and rid SA of its reliance on fossil fuels.
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