MyPE

Community Business Directory, Event Listings, News and Views from Gqeberha, Nelson Mandela Bay

Premier must fire MEC Sihlwayi

By

Dear MyPE

The fact that consistent political pressure had to be applied to ensure that Eastern Cape Premier Phumulo Masualle reversed his uncaring MEC’s stance on the frail care crisis shows how out of touch the provincial government is with the needs of society.

Premier Masualle must fire Social Development MEC Nancy Sihlwayi for this uncaring and painful episode, as she has demonstrated that she is not only out of step with the needs of the frail care patients but is totally at odds with civil society and even her own party, and was prepared to take the Eastern Cape down the same road as Gauteng which has just seen 94 patients die at the hands of the ANC government.

This incident highlights the important oversight role played by members of the provincial legislature, the media and legal aid. This, combined with the power of public outrage has been victorious in ensuring human rights has triumphed over injustice.

MEC Sihlwayi has blundered twice on this matter. Firstly, the courts had to come to the rescue of the patients in December to prevent the closure, despite her being warned of this disastrous course of action. Secondly, the Premier has now had to overrule her decision to continue on this dangerous plan that refused to take the reality of the Gauteng deaths into account.

On Wednesday, she was insistent in closing these centres and sending patients to NGO’S despite this same approach resulting in 94 deaths in Gauteng. The DA strongly opposed Sihlwayi on this, and we demanded she changes her stance. MEC Sihlwayi’s blunder of life-threatening proportions cannot be ignored by the Premier going forward.

MEC Sihlwayi cannot claim ignorance on this matter as she was warned of the horrific consequences of her department’s intended actions in a speech I made in the legislature in November and subsequent input by myself and Kobus Botha MPL on Tuesday and Wednesday during a legislature sitting of this week.

These two blunders show how out of touch with reality the MEC is. This department that deals with vulnerable members of society needs a caring, human-rights orientated leader that is fit for purpose.

Regards

Bobby Stevenson MPL
Leader in the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature

The following two tabs change content below.

Port Elizabethan

This author is a 'catch-all' for occasional articles and letters written to MyPE. The Author of each article can be found in the signature at the bottom of each individual article.