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Premier Oscar Mabuyane’s 2026 State of the Province Address must confront the hard truth about life in the Eastern Cape and set out a credible plan to restore hope and dignity to our people. At a time when unemployment is rising, crime is spiralling, and service delivery is collapsing, it is a make-or-break year, and the people of this province cannot afford another speech that avoids reality.

For ordinary families across the Eastern Cape, the questions are painfully simple. Do you have an income to care for your family? Do you feel safe in your own community? Do you have reliable access to water, electricity, sanitation, and decent roads? Can you depend on quality healthcare when you are sick? Are your children receiving an education that gives them a future? Is there a safety net for the most vulnerable?

These are the measures by which the people will judge this year’s address.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) believes the State of the Province Address must be anchored in these lived realities. It must move beyond general commitments and present firm, measurable interventions to halt economic decline, restore safety, rebuild services, and protect the most vulnerable.

The economy remains in deep distress. The latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey shows the Eastern Cape has the highest unemployment rate in South Africa, with 42.5% officially unemployed and 51.4% under the expanded definition. Rural unemployment stands at 61.2%

Over the past year, 79,000 jobs were lost, a far cry from the reduced unemployment promised by Premier Mabuyane in his speech last year. These figures represent households without income and communities trapped in poverty. Economic stagnation, poor governance, failing local services, and pressure on the automotive sector have combined to weaken growth and opportunity.

Crime is equally devastating. The Eastern Cape continues to record among the highest levels of murder and rape in the country. In just one quarter, 1,270 murders and 1,871 rapes were recorded. Kidnappings in the province continue to be a problem, highlighting how organised criminal networks are expanding their reach, while communities feel increasingly unsafe.

Service delivery failures are compounding these crises. Sixteen municipalities in the province are classified as distressed. Businesses are disinvesting due to unreliable services, and residents in both urban and rural areas struggle with access to water, electricity, and safe roads. The provincial roads maintenance backlog stands at R30 billion, while allocated funds have gone unspent.

Healthcare and education systems are under severe strain. Public healthcare facilities face resource shortages and financial instability, while the school infrastructure backlog stands at R72 billion. Children cannot learn in collapsing classrooms, and patients cannot receive dignified care in failing facilities.

The DA expects firm and measurable commitments to stabilise and grow the provincial economy, restore confidence in governance, and protect jobs. This includes decisive intervention to improve local service delivery in metros as engines of economic growth, a clear plan to diversify the economy beyond manufacturing and trade into sectors such as tourism and agriculture, and the implementation of a credible Automotive Sector Recovery Strategy that secures alternative export markets.

The Premier must also commit to stabilising distressed municipalities, enforcing consequence management where there is failure, implementing a funded recovery plan to address the R30 billion roads maintenance backlog, ensuring that conditional grants are fully spent, and rolling out a comprehensive Water Supply Master Plan.

At the centre of this year’s State of the Province Address must be honesty. Only by acknowledging the full scale of the crisis can meaningful strategies be developed to address it. The people of the Eastern Cape deserve leadership that delivers, and a future built on dignity, opportunity, and honest government.

Issued by Dr Vicky Knoetze MPL - DA Leader of the Official Opposition in the Eastern Cape Legislature