WESTERN Cape premier Alan Winde has repeated his call for greater powers to be devolved to provinces, saying that the DA-run provincial government, instead of the national government, should be delivering services in transport and policing.
Addressing the Cape Town Press Club on Friday 21 July, Winde said the provincial government’s fight to have certain powers devolved to it from national government could go all the way to the Constitutional Court if intergovernmental processes do not achieve this goal.
In his address, Winde gave a strong motivation for the Provincial Powers Bill which has been proposed by the Democratic Alliance and which would see certain functions devolved from national to provincial government. The bill also proposes an expansion of powers such as policing, public transport, energy and trade, as well as harbours. It provides for the creation of a framework within which the delegation of national competencies can be considered and would create a mechanism for the legislature to introduce national legislation in the National Council of Provinces via its members.
Winde’s government has long called for the devolution of powers, particularly over policing, energy and transport but the bill has been criticised by the ANC and some other parties.
The constitution does allow for a devolution of powers, but this can only take place if assigned by the executive and, to date, the police and transport ministers have refused Western Cape requests for devolution of powers.
Winde said the bill would provide a framework within which the Western Cape government could work towards getting more powers. He was confident that the Constitutional Court would support such a bid if it could be shown that the national government is failing to provide the services.
He said, while the bid for a devolution of power would be difficult, he has an “ally” in Gauteng premier, Panyaza Lesufi who is also lobbying for a devolution of policing and railway powers.
“He (Lesufi) and I say the same thing at lekgotlas in front of the president … so I know I have allies in devolution. Gauteng is an absolute ally in getting devolution on rail. They want it just as much as we want it because we know it’s the backbone of getting a public transport system going.”
The DA introduced the bill in May as part of its bid to expand federal autonomy for capable provincial and local governments, and to give it the necessary powers to manage the functions devolved from national government. The deadline for public input was Monday 7 August.
