The Provincial Powers Bill, currently before the Speaker of the Western Cape legislature, seeks more autonomy for that province.
The Western Cape is once again pushing for greater autonomy over the way things are done in that part of the country. The Democratic Alliance (DA) hopes to see its Provincial Powers Bill implemented before the elections next year, a move that has sparked the ire of the African National Congress (ANC).
Speaking in an interview on Salaamedia, the DA’s deputy federal chairperson JP Smith touted the potential benefits of the provincial government taking over certain functions of the national government.
He hinted the national government was out of touch with local communities.
“Challenging circumstances in our country are made worse when the national government makes policies or decisions that don’t speak and don’t work well for local communities, whereas the local or provincial government running that could come up with solutions that are unique to their particular situation,” he said.
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Devolution for Western Cape
Smith said the DA-led provincial government in the Western Cape had done all it could to devolve some functions. The problem, he suggested, was an ongoing battle against centralisation.
“We’ve done devolution as much as we can within the current framework, but there’s also instances where the national government is able to devolve power but it chooses not to because the current regime is deeply committed to centralisation.”
On Wednesday, the DA outlined functions that could be devolved to the provincial government. These were: policing, public transport and rail, energy, trade and harbours. The bill is currently before the Speaker of the Western Cape Legislature.
Meanwhile, the ANC strongly rejected the bill. The party’s leader in the provincial legislature, Cameron Dugmore, accused the DA of attempting to usurp power and take charge of national functions through the back door.
“The DA through this Bill is merely advocating for power sharing through a federal constitution and a federal system. The DA is clearly trying to usurp the powers and functions of the national government via [the] back door,” he is quoted as saying by the Daily Maverick.
