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DA provincial leader and former trade, industry and competition deputy minister Andrew Whitfield is back at the Bhisho legislature.Whitfield is set to take over a party MPL seat left vacant by the departure of former student activist and the party’s provincial chair, Yusuf Cassim, who joined President Cyril Ramaphosa’s cabinet last week as higher education and training deputy minister. On Sunday, Whitfield said the provincial government could no longer afford to sit “waiting cap in hand” for direction and funding from the national government if was serious about tackling poverty and unemployment.Whitfield will assume the role of leader of the opposition in the legislature after vacating his seat in parliament to allow former DA chief whip Cassim to take up his new role.Whitfield dismissed suggestions that the change was unusual, saying it was a practical arrangement necessitated by Cassim’s promotion to the national executive.“Cassim is now the deputy minister of higher education and to become such, he needed to be a member of parliament. “As the provincial leader of the DA in the Eastern Cape, I offered him my position in parliament and that required a swap,” Whitfield said.He said the arrangement would also bring greater alignment between his responsibilities as provincial leader and his new role as leader of the opposition in the Bhisho legislature.“This was always something that was a possibility following our last provincial congress where I was elected again as the provincial leader,” he said.Whitfield criticised the provincial government’s economic strategy, arguing that provincial leaders had failed to take advantage of opportunities that could unlock growth and investment.“One of my frustrations with the Eastern Cape government is it seems to wait for national government to tell it what to do.“I don’t know how sustainable it is to sit waiting, cap in hand, for the national government to tell the provincial government what to do,” he said.Whitfield said the province should be aggressively pursuing trade and investment opportunities, similar to the approach adopted by the Western Cape government.He further called for strengthening of the Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC), to attract investors and support economic expansion.“Every single cent in every round of investment ultimately lands in a municipality. “The provincial government has tremendous powers to bring stability, good governance and service delivery back to our municipalities. “If we are able to fix our municipalities, we will be able to create the environment for investment, not just to land, but to grow and expand,” he said.Whitfield argued that the Eastern Cape remained one of the country’s poorest provinces despite possessing significant economic potential.“The Eastern Cape is one of the most poverty-stricken provinces with the most abundant economic development opportunities. “But the Eastern Cape government simply doesn’t understand the theory of economic development in a modern society,” he said.He said the government needed to move beyond programmes focused solely on grants and providing equipment to farmers, and instead concentrate on expanding trade opportunities and creating conditions that encouraged investment.The DA formally welcomed Whitfield’s return to the legislature on Saturday, describing it as a strategic move that would strengthen the party’s efforts to grow its support in the province ahead of the 2029 national and provincial elections.DA Eastern Cape spokesperson Georgina Faldtman said Whitfield would take over as leader of the official opposition from Dr Vicky Knoetze, who would now assume the role of chief whip.Faldtman said Whitfield brought extensive experience to the position, having served in local, provincial and national government, including as trade, industry and competition deputy minister, a member of the Eastern Cape legislature and a member of the Nelson Mandela Bay mayoral committee responsible for economic development, tourism and agriculture.The DA said Whitfield’s experience in the economic cluster would help the party develop policy proposals aimed at growing the provincial economy and creating jobs.“The people of the Eastern Cape deserve a government that grows the economy, creates jobs, fights corruption and improves services. “We will fight to get the Eastern Cape working,” the party said.Whitfield said the DA would spend the coming months developing policy proposals aimed at putting the province on what he described as “a pathway from poverty to prosperity”.• Click here to join the Daily Dispatch’s WhatsApp channel and get the latest news delivered straight to your phone.
