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The DA, alongside our colleagues in the EFF and the FF Plus in the Free State Legislature, has taken a political decision to boycott Premier Ace Magashule’s 2018 State of the Province Address (SOPA) scheduled for tomorrow evening in his home town Parys, as well as the debate following the SOPA. We will also not attend his budget vote speech later next month.

The DA cannot in good conscience add legitimacy to the premiership of a severely compromised individual. In addition to hosting an expensive farewell function disguised as a SOPA event, the Free State Legislature has failed to effectively hold Magashule to account for the numerous allegations of maladministration and corruption that surround his administration.

Magashule has been a pioneer of state capture through the establishment of an intricate patronage network that is characterised by allegations of corruption throughout the province under the guise of the ANC’s policy of cadre deployment. Magashule’s hand in the appointment of officials have seen Free State departments such as Health, Education and Social Development collapse, municipalities are left bankrupt, while basic service delivery are increasingly becoming non-existent.

Magashule first captured the Free State to serve his party political factional ends and has now sold it to unscrupulous business people such as the Guptas, most notably with the controversial Vrede Dairy Project.

Magashule’s premiership has been fraught with maladministration, financial mismanagement and corruption which has left the Free State in a terrible state of decay.

It has almost been a month since the DA requested the Speaker to arrange a special sitting of the Legislature in order to debate and table of no confidence in Magashule. Speaker Mamiki Qabathe and Chief Whip Neels van Rooyen have wilfully been delaying the scheduling of the motion of no confidence using loopholes in the Rules and Orders of the Legislature to achieve this. The DA has been forced to seek legal counsel in this regard. The initial High Court bid has been withdrawn after the Whips Committee deliberations on the matter of public importance. The DA is considering a revised court application to obtain clarity on the matter of the urgency of a motion of no confidence based on previous judgements in this regard. A court ruling will assist the Legislature in drafting rules on this issue.

Magashule does not deserve to deliver a SOPA. The people of the Free State deserve better and the DA will work towards bringing a new beginning to the province which would be characterised by good governance, economic growth, job creation and quality service delivery to all. It is possible to bring the good governance the DA is known for in other parts of the country to the Free State, the people can vote for that Total Change in 2019. They can vote DA.

Issued by DA