The African National Congress (ANC) in the Western Cape on Wednesday, said it demanded Premier Alan Winde to inform the province on what plans have been put in place to address critical issues facing the province.

Winde is expected to deliver his State of the province address (SoPA) during the official opening ceremony of the Sixth Provincial Parliament in Cape Town on Thursday. 

ANC Western Cape secretary Faiez Jacobs said: “We demand answers on community safety, job-creation and transforming the skewed ownership patterns of the provincial economy, public transport and mobility in the metro and rural areas, the reversal of apartheid spatial planning in Cape Town and all rural towns and the creation of integrated settlements, and also equal and quality education for all our learners.”

He said Winde must also inform the province how he will ensure that local government delivers quality basic services, contribute to local economic development and root out corruption, capture, cronyism and complacency.

“We want to tell the Premier that we demand that our people are treated equally in this province. They are citizens of a free and democratic South Africa and not sojourners or refugees as Helen Zille once disgracefully called them,” Jacobs said.

The ANC also demanded a clear plan for informal settlements, as well as for the people known as backyarders. 

“These communities have been neglected for years and must get a better deal. We also demand that Premier Winde unveils a programme that will render integrated services to at least 30 hotspot areas that are riven by poverty and poor services. We also demand to see their plan for safer communities because they cannot just rely on South African police.”