VF Plus Member of the Provincial Legislature (MPL), Tammy Wessels, slammed Ntombela’s address, telling OFM News after the event at the University of the Free State’s South Campus that the Premier was merely trying to score cheap votes with her many promises, that cannot be realised. Wessels points out that Ntombela’s announcement on the registration of close to 5000 people for land sites in the province is not feasible, considering the existing backlog. 

The MPL says this is nothing more than a campaign strategy ahead of the May elections. DA Member of the Provincial Legislature (MPL), Roy Jankielsohn, on the other end criticised Ntombela for regurgitating statistics that he says are already in the public domain when referring to some of the province’s highlights and achievements in her address. Jankielsohn expressed concern at some of the interventions that the provincial government plans on instituting to deal with pressing issues like unemployment and poverty, adding they are nothing new, in fact many of them have already been implemented and continuing those interventions further will create “further dependency and patronage”.

The DA MPL explains that for the economy of the province to grow, there needs to be an emphasis on infrastructure and service delivery. “It’s very important for any provincial or local government to focus on the basics and that is to ensure that there is a sound infrastructure for economic growth,” says Jankielsohn.

He raised concerns that Ntombela did not give hope to unemployed graduates, matriculants and high school drop-outs. In her address, the Premier, was optimistic about jobs for the youth contrary to Jankielsohn’s assertions. She said “employment creation prospects for the youth appears similarly encouraging. Through our Community Development Programme, we created 682 job opportunities for young people and 396 for women.” 

She pledged to create 52 000 job opportunities over the course of the 2019/20 financial year, with 28 000 of these opportunities benefiting women. The opposition parties question if these targets can realistically be achieved.

OFM News/ Sazly Hartzenberg and Olebogeng Motse