A reduction in the number of provinces is something the ANC led government has often toyed with, but it appears this policy has gained increasing support among party delegates at the ANC policy conference in Midrand this year. The biggest change would see the Northern Cape, Western Cape, and some parts of Eastern Cape merge.

According to two senior party leaders, the legislature and governance commission has already agreed on the following:

Merging the Northern Cape, Western Cape and some parts of Eastern Cape, where a combined Cape could give the ANC an upper hand over the DA in an election – something it has always wanted.

Secondly, it would incorporate the northern parts of the Eastern Cape into KwaZulu-Natal, with the North West ceasing to exist altogether, because some parts of that province would be merged with Gauteng, and others with Limpopo.

The Free State and Mpumalanga would remain unchanged. A presidential review committee would be set up to handle the process, which could see the changes made within four years.

Unsurprisingly, the ANC Western Cape and Eastern Cape regions put this proposal on the table.

Mlibo Qoboshiyane, Eastern Cape ANC provincial secretary, said the proposal wasn’t about increasing the party’s powers, but rather about addressing poverty, unemployment and inequality, that they can’t seem to manage properly at the moment.

Eastern Cape strongly argued that the [ANC’s national executive committee] set up a team of experts to start working on the renewal of the current state, including national, provincial and local level, within the broad understanding that South Africa is one, sovereign and unitary.

We contend that there are huge challenges in the current feature of our state and its architect frame, especially when considering issues of inequality and unemployment.

We further proposed that such be dealt with with extreme care to avoid state instability, respecting negotiated clauses during Codesa.

It’s no secret that the Eastern Cape has been managed like an infant might manage a plate of fine food – shit flying everywhere. The province’s education department has already been placed under national administration.

DA leader and Western Cape Premier, Helen Zille, moved immediately to dismiss the proposal as nothing but “gerrymandering boundaries to ensure that the DA cannot win provincial elections.”

She continued:

It would be disastrous for service delivery, most importantly. This will only make large inefficient provincial governments even bigger, more internally divided and further removed from the people. We will resist these gerrymandering proposals to the limit. Most South Africans will see through them.

[The proposal was] extremely complex, divisive, and unpopular in the ANC. It has no hope of going further than an internal ANC document.

Making a little bit of sense, the ANC’s policy standpoint on the matter seems to be:

That we have fewer provinces which are functional, effective, economically sustainable, integrate communities on a non-racial basis and do away with ethnic boundaries.

Although there has been no official resolution on the matter, it appears that the next step is to come up with answers about the powers of provinces, the nature of support, capacity building, and other important things.

Delegates would also need to consider the constitutional requirements when reducing the number of provinces, as well as consultation of key political parties who may be allowed to play a role in shaping provincial reforms.

[Source: TimsLive]