7 August 2008
New Western Cape Premier Lynne Brown has prioritised the promotion of non-racialism, reaching the poor, and economic growth as three of the key challenges of her new cabinet.
Emerging from her first cabinet meeting yesterday after being installed as Premier and reshuffling the cabinet a week ago, Brown said that everything was on track in terms of service delivery in the province.
Brown insisted that the next eight months - until the next national elections - were not a "new" term, but the final eight months of a five-year plan.
"We are three-quarters there and a quarter away from our plans," she later told the Cape Argus after the cabinet yesterday assessed the provincial government's progress.
"In terms of how we have planned, we are on track and these eight months are just a continuation of a five-year term with a special focus on job creation and poverty alleviation,"she said.
"We are the architects of this programme, including the MECs and the former premier."
Brown said the cabinet would be continuing to ensure economic growth. This they would do, by bringing in more people to the economy.
She said that in an effort to deal with poverty alleviation in the province her government planned to consult with Cosatu and Sanco on food and other price hikes.
"We need to ask ourselves how do we make sure that the 233 000 school children are getting at least one nutritious meal a day and should we also include high schools?"
She said they had assessed "Where are we in our plans?"
"We further asked ourselves 'how do we get to those who need it?'"
Brown spoke of a beautiful, yet exclusive Western Cape. "We have beautiful views and we have the saddest views.
"You drive along the N2, past those shacks into the welcoming arms of the beautiful Table Mountain.
"Non-racialism is a challenge in the province. How do we deal with that? It's a challenge. We need to be more inclusive."
When asked whether eight months was sufficient time, to finish the remaining quarter of work that needed to be done especially with new faces in nine of the 10 portfolios, she said: "These are people who are best-placed to do the job.
"Take Garth (Garth Strachan is Finance and Economic Development MEC) for instance, he has immense experience from chairing the committee on finance and economic development.
"Yousuf Gabru has been an educationist and policy maker for a long period. Teacher organisations are close to his heart.
"Someone asked me if I was comfortable having a Zuma-man in charge of finance.
"Another asked why did Cameron Dugmore, who is believed to be in some other faction, make into the cabinet?
"I don't care about factions. It doesn't matter which factions they were in yesterday. They are in my faction now," said Brown who boasts of having put up a cabinet that "cuts across all divides".
Asked on how she envisaged her role of unifying a divided ANC in the province - which has seen much back-stabbing - she responded: "Knife-stabbing, you mean?" "I am opening the door. The past is the past."
Brown wouldn't commit on whether she would want to remain premier after 2009's elections.
"I'll cross that bridge when I get there," she said.
Asked about her participation in a protest in support of ANC President Jacob Zuma outside the Cape High Court, her office said Brown has been participating as an ANC member, not as the premier.
When former premier Ebrahim Rasool left office, there had been a breakdown in the relationship between him and Cape Town Mayor Helen Zille, she said.
This had been partly over the appointment of the Erasmus Commission to investigate allegations of spying in the city council.
Brown stated: "I'd like it to be a working relationship with Zille.
"Three million of the people in this province live in the city.
"We should be able to work towards what benefits the people.
"I'm not naive to think it will be easy. It will be robust."
When asked whether she would drop the stalled Erasmus Commission, Brown responded: "The commission is before the courts."
She added that she would apply her mind to it when court reconvened.
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