Western Cape Premier Alan Winde delivers his State of the Province Address at the Conville Community Hall in George on Wednesday, 25 February. (Photo: Bertram Malgas / Western Cape Provincial Parliament) As the sun set at the Conville Community Hall in George, there was a shout of “Amandla” during Western Cape Premier Alan Winde’s State of the Province Address (Sopa) on Wednesday, 25 February.
The audience had been quiet as he spoke about the province’s successes, but when he addressed the upcoming municipal elections, things became somewhat rowdy.
“Please cast your vote wisely,” Winde said as opposition parties jeered and members of his party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), applauded and loudly agreed with him.
South African political parties have been in full election mode, and in George, which has seen political upheaval in recent months, three ward councillors from the DA have resigned, joining the party’s bitter rival, the Patriotic Alliance. This forced the DA back into a coalition with the Freedom Front Plus and African Christian Democratic Party.
George was one of 16 hung councils after the 2021 local government elections, and heading into another election due later this year, there will again be close calls.
Bellwether municipality
While holding the Sopa in different communities has been a priority for the provincial legislature (from Mitchells Plain to Paarl, Beaufort West, Genadendal and Velddrif), the fact that it was held in the bellwether municipality of George was a sign of how significant the region is in the lead-up to the polls.
When Winde spoke of the upcoming elections, he said: “We have over 500 political parties in South Africa. When I look at the performance of all municipalities, there is such vast disparity in the quality of services delivered, and often these align [with] the makeup of the municipal leadership.
“You can be in one town where rubbish is collected, leaks are fixed, roads are maintained, and the lights are on. You drive 60km, and you’re in a different town, which resembles a war zone — rubbish everywhere, water leaks in every street and in some cases, no water in taps for weeks on end,” said Winde.
The premier referred to another hung council, Knsyna (located next to George), where he said there was a crisis. That council is led by the African National Congress and local party Plaaslike Besorgde Inwoners. The PA withdrew from the alliance in 2025.
Read more: Knysna has days of water left after years of ‘long-term operational and management failures’
DA chief whip Gillion Bosman said: “The premier highlighted in the last part of his speech the role that local government plays in providing services to citizens and providing dignity, and where voters have to make choices in who’s going to govern them. We’ve seen a lot of instability in municipal councils across the province, and George is one of those examples where this municipality is actually going to set the tone for what we can expect in the local government elections later this year.”
Leader of the official opposition, the ANC’s Khalid Sayed, said, “This was not supposed to be a party-political speech; yes, we understand he’s deployed by the DA and he will be informed by the DA manifesto.
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/ED_514853.jpg "The ANC’s Khalid Sayed. (Photo: Ziyaad Douglas / Gallo Images)")
“But to be so blatant about playing 2026 politics when you’re supposed to unite the entire province, that was very disappointing.”
Sayed said that he would have thought that Winde would speak about the need for those in hung municipalities to work together to bring stability to local government. “That would have been better.”
Other key takeaways from Winde’s Sopa
Expansion of jobseekers’ travel voucher to George
Winde stressed several times the importance of jobs as a provincial priority. One of the new measures he announced was the broadening of the province’s collaboration with public transport companies for its “jobseeker travel voucher”. This was to help potential employees to get to interviews without the stress of worrying about the high costs of transport.
On Wednesday, Winde said: “For many jobseekers, the cost of getting to an interview can be the difference between finding work or staying unemployed. Building on the success of the Jobseeker Travel Voucher Programme in Cape Town, I am delighted to announce that this will expand to George this year, including residents of Thembalethu, Pacaltsdorp, Blanco and Lawaaikamp.”
SANDF deployment is welcomed — but ‘highlights SAPS failure’
One of the major problems Winde addressed was crime. In his State of the Nation Address, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the deployment of the South African National Defence Force to help support police in the fight against gangsterism in the Western Cape.
Winde, who has long called for this, said: “While we are cautiously supportive of the military deployment, it is surely an admission of the SAPS leadership’s failure to combat crime effectively.”
The debate and reply to the Sopa will take place on Thursday. George and other hung municipalities will undoubtedly be top of mind ahead of the polls. DM