By The African National Congress (ANC) in the Free State won the province outright during the national and provincial elections in May 2024; however, the decline in voter support is course for the party to change how it is operating.
The ANC in the province is currently working on renewing and rebuilding the organisation, riding itself of the bad apples within itself. The newly elected Premier Ms MaQueen Letsoha-Mathae said one the focus areas for the ANC in this administration, is working on its image.
The province suffered drastically due to the infighting and division of the ANC leading to non-service delivery, impacting on investor confidence, unstable environment due to protests and many other situations. The current move to rebuild the organisation is a positive and encouraging one. The unity of the ANC in the province can be very beneficial for the economy and the residents.
For me, there are three areas that the ANC in the province need to work hard on in order to grow the economy of the Free State; namely they are service delivery at local government level, revival and boosting of industry and the prevention of skills outward migration. These are not in any particular order of importance.
Dealing with service delivery will solve many problems for the leadership in the province. Regular supply of water and electricity to residents and businesses will make life much easier as households, and some businesses are water intense and need water to survive, water is economy, solving the leakages will also grow revenue for municipalities.
Roads are at the centre of any economy, as millions or even billions worth of goods and services use roads, the more in good condition the roads are, the more freight can use our roads and bring business to local communities. Motorists who pass through the province stop at garages and purchase fuel and other items; but if our roads are bad, the traffic diverts to better routes, which will have an economic effect on local businesses.
Though the province has seen economic growth of about R60 billion over the past years, it is still below the provinces potential given the existing industries in the Free State. The mining sector has been having it tough over the years with investors leaving the province. The province has so much potential on many other sectors including renewable energy, fibre cables, tourism and many others.
More efforts should be made towards attracting foreign direct investment and domestic investment. The ANC government also needs to double its efforts in supporting small businesses, boost the township economy as they create a number of jobs, especially for the non-skilled population in the province.
The leadership in the province has held investment conferences where they were able to attract billions worth of investment, especially in the renewable energy sector. The province is working on repurposing some of the closed mines, which is a step in the right direction. We need to congratulate the leadership for their efforts by far; they just need to unlock the full economic potential of the province.
Every industry comes with skills demand; it has been unfortunate that, people who are highly skilled are leaving the province for greener postures, mainly to the UK. This is however not unique to the Free State, it is a phenomenon affecting the African continent.
H.E Wamkele Mene, the Secretary of the African Free Continental Trade Area also alluded to this fact, that Africa is losing its skills to mostly the UK for lack of better opportunities in Africa.
With the revival and creation of industries that demand high skills, it might help in retaining people with skills. The faster industries are developed, the better the chance of retaining skills in the province and will put the Free State in a much better position to compete nationally, in Africa and on the global stage.
With the skills, the province will be able to produce high quality products and service.
The Free State will look attractive when at local government level there is consistent power and water supply, no sewerage and water leakages filling the street, the roads are in good condition and the province is clean. When industries are functioning very well and people are working, the unemployment rate is low and we have highly skilled personnel for any industry that requires specialised skills.
Maybe, just maybe as I think out loud, inflation in the province might drop drastically and life can be affordable for everyone given the multiplier effect that will take place.
