Looking at the Western Cape in National context
The Western Cape has wonderful natural advantages: climate, fertile arable land, perennial water, scenic grandeur, access to the sea, etc. These were not created by human beings.
It also has important historical man-made advantages: three hundred plus years of urban and infrastructural development; organised (and subsidised) agriculture, and nearly fifty years of preferential treatment by the white minority government -- which deliberately gave coloured people (classified into seven groups) certain advantages over black African people.
Consequently, at the time of change in l994 it was the second richest province in per capita income. It had higher levels of education and training, literacy and vocational skills and better health indicators than any any other province, except Gauteng. And unlike other provinces, it did not have to incorporate former homelands (with Kempton Park-agreed restrictions on retrenchments).
Further, it is geographically smaller and more manageable than the old Western Province.
In other words, the new provincial government took over assets and advantages which, in so far as they were manmade, were largely the result of historical injustice to the indigenous population of SA.
The Situation in 1999
The "new South Africa" has in general been favourable to many economic and social sectors in the Western Cape: wine and fruit farming: hotels, restaurants and other aspects of the booming tourist trade; entertainment and sports; financial services; upmarket development projects; commercial and retail expansion.
BUT there is a downside in regard to crime, education, health and social welfare.
Crime: our relative prosperity has attracted international crime -- drugs, car theft, perlemoen smuggling, illegal imports of counterfeit goods; fraud and ATM/credit car/cellphone theft. This on top of an old history of gangsterism, crime, violence and police complicity. In l978 Cape Town had the highest per capita crime rate in the country: with l8 per cent of the population it had 24 per cent of serious crime. Its murder rate matched that of Soweto.
The problems of crime have been aggravated by the state of socio-economic crisis on the Cape Flats and other 'non-white' areas, in turn worsened by cuts in education, health and welfare budgets. WHY HAVE THESE CUTS BEEN MADE? Was it because, as Pieter Marais has often publicly claimed, "the nasty ANC government is punishing the Western Cape for having voted for the NNP"?
Look at these facts:
Apart from the burden of apartheid debt, which absorbs one rand in five of government revenue, there is the constitutional and moral requirement to treat all South Africans fairly. We cannot carry on with past injustices such as these 1993/4 education allocations per pupil:
In 1994 the Western Cape had about 7 per cent of pupils and 11 per cent of teachers in SA. Nationally white teachers comprised l6 per cent of total and absorbed 33 per cent of the salary bill. Attempts by means of national pupil/teacher ratios (35:1 secondary, 40:1 primary while W Cape had 23:1) to spread resources resulted in controversy, acrimony and stalemate. Now provinces choose how much of their overall budget to spend on education, and the NNP boast s that it is spending over R5,500 per pupil. Note that as expenditure is related to teacher salaries, most is spent on pupils in schools with the best qualified teachers, i.e. former Model C schools.
In terms of national education budget allocations, the disparities were being phased out over five years. This has meant advantage to the already privileged:
| Year | national average | Western Cape (per R100 per pupil) |
Eastern Cape (per R100 per pupil) |
| 1995 | R100 | R149.50 | R79 |
| 1996 | R100 | R160.40 | R91 |
Meantime former Model C schools were able to sell assets like surplus land and keep the proceeds for themselves.
Healthcare: the former Western Province invested heavily in its teaching hospitals and other specialised services. These were hugely expensive yet lacked effective financial management systems (now being put in place) and were not able to meet overall needs. The policy switch towards providing more of the less expensive primary and secondary healthcare facilities , especially in rural and underserved areas, was bound to be disruptive. Unfortunately, foot-dragging by major role players has aggravated the negative effects of this difficult transition.
Social welfare: under the old system minority groups, especially white elderly people, were the main beneficiaries. Now the national policy is to spread available resources more fairly and to foster developmental approaches, e.g.in regard to single parenthood and disabled people. The Western Cape, being 80 per cent "minority group" in population, has been adversely affected by changes such as:
Question: do those who object to the cuts being made for the sake of equity also object to the principle of equity (fairness)?
The Western Cape has been a favoured child in the SA family -- at the expense of other family members. It is understandable that people feel anxious and resentful about receiving less than they used to, and would tend to argue that the "excellence" of education and healthcare in this province should be preserved "for the sake of the country". But they dodge the question of where to find the resources to "level up" the rest of the country to Western Cape apartheid-created standards.
We all want excellence. The question is how to move together to raise standards throughout the country.
"A rising tides lifts all ships."
An ANC government in the Western Cape would still have problems. But there would be a more productive partnership between provincial and national governments in the processes of transformation.
Conflict wastes precious resources. Co-operation is the basis for progress to prosperity.
Look at the contradictions honestly, and throw your weight into the struggle to turn them into constructive challenges.
Vote ANC for the Western Cape and for South Africa
Margaret Nash
Claremont, Cape
25 May 1999