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As we approach the State of the Province Address (SOPA), the Western Cape government must confront the urgent failures that continue to undermine the safety, security, and dignity of its residents. Lofty promises will no longer suffice, people deserve real, tangible action.

The Western Cape’s multi-billion-rand Safety Plan, designed to halve the murder rate in ten years, is at its halfway mark. Yet, from 2019 to 2024, the murder rate has surged by 14.32%. Despite massive financial investment and years of political rhetoric, communities remain under siege by violent crime. 

There are only five years left for this plan to deliver on its promise, yet crime statistics continue to rise. If the murder rate is increasing, not falling, then the plan is failing. People deserve answers, accountability, and real solutions.

State-owned land is one of the government’s most powerful tools to address inequality, yet in the Western Cape, it is too often hoarded, mismanaged, or sold off to the highest bidder. Public land must be used for public good, this means affordable housing, well-located schools, and essential services that serve communities, not private developers. 

The unresolved battles over the Tafelberg Site, Woodstock Hospital, and Helen Bowden Nurses Home, highlight a provincial government unwilling to act decisively on spatial justice. Working-class communities continue to be excluded from well-located areas while the province delays meaningful action. The time for debate has passed, houses must be built, and they must be built now.

More than a decade ago, in 2012, the provincial government identified six parcels of land for development under the Central City Regeneration Programme. The programme has since been abandoned, and these prime parcels of land remain undeveloped, despite the ongoing housing crisis. Instead of following through on commitments to deliver well-located affordable housing, the government has allowed these sites to sit idle while the need for housing grows more urgent.

Education in the Western Cape is in crisis. Earlier this year, thousands of learners were left stranded when budget cuts gutted critical school transport programs. While some funding has been restored, the damage has already been done, learners missed school, families scrambled for solutions, and trust in the government’s commitment to education was eroded. 

The province is also facing a staggering R3.8 billion shortfall in the education budget over the next three years, putting infrastructure, teacher support, and the quality of education at risk. A government that cannot ensure children can get to school, learn in safe environments, and receive a quality education is failing the next generation.

This SOPA cannot be another exercise in spin and self-congratulation while communities remain unsafe, land is squandered, and education is neglected. Safety, public land, and education are not just policy issues, they are the cornerstones of justice and dignity. 

A government that fails to protect its citizens, house its people, and educate its children has abandoned its moral and constitutional duty. The people of the Western Cape deserve better. SOPA must deliver real solutions, not more excuses.

Issued by Brett Herron, GOOD: Secretary-General & Member of the Western Cape Parliament