The FF Plus will boost its oversight role and drive for economic growth in Gauteng with the appointment of two of the party’s MPLs as committee chairs in the Legislature.
The appointments followed the FF Plus’s statement that it does not desire to fill any executive authority positions in the Gauteng Government of Provincial Unity (GPU), but that it is prepared to play an important oversight role by chairing the Legislature’s economic committees to hold the provincial government accountable.
Mr Jaco Mulder has been appointed as the chairperson of the Agriculture, Rural Development and Environmental Affairs Committee.
Adv Anton Alberts has been appointed as the chairperson of the Economic Development Committee.
The sheer lack of economic growth and job creation in the province is one of the main causes of the socio-economic decline experienced by Gauteng.
In addition, Gauteng is the country’s economic heartbeat and has to set the pace for turning the national economy around. So, creating and implementing proven economic policy is of the utmost importance.
The Economic Development Committee and the Agriculture, Rural Development and Environmental Affairs Committee both play a key role in promoting economic growth and job creation in Gauteng.
The chairs of the two committees also have quite a bit of clout when it comes to holding the Gauteng government accountable, and they hold sway over its policy and the implementation thereof.
The FF Plus chairs have significant powers in these two committees seeing as they are able to determine the programme, agendas and strategic focus points.
Chairs can also arrange oversight visits to any provincial government departments, entities and projects, and can launch in-depth investigations. Moreover, chairs have the power to call the premier and relevant MECs to appear before the committee and report on relevant governmental affairs and answer questions.
The chairs can even instruct the committee to compile draft legislation to table to the provincial government and create provincial legislation to be submitted to the Legislature.
In the past, both Mulder and Alberts have, respectively, served on the parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry during their tenure as Members of Parliament, so, they have amassed vast experience concerning the country’s national economic development which will come in very handy in attempts to improve Gauteng’s economic trajectory.
The FF Plus will, among other things, ensure that there is much more collaboration with the private sector to gain its input, thus laying a foundation for influencing government policy and possibly partnering with the Gauteng government in the future.
The FF Plus wants to use this opportunity to address the poor stewardship of the Gauteng economy and the rampant unemployment in a way that will deliver results quickly for the benefit of the people of the province.
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