Eastern Cape needs action, not another decade of planning, says acting premier

Daily Maverick

6 days ago

This moment calls on us to pause and ask: has the Eastern Cape Socio-Economic Consultative Council truly lived up to its founding vision?
Are we doing enough to reconfigure this strategic entity to meet the evolving socioeconomic challenges and opportunities of our time?
The ECSECC was birthed in 1995, a period of deep transition and transformation in our country, following South Africa's protracted struggle for liberation and a more just and equitable society.
It was born of a progressive idea: that socioeconomic development must be inclusive, co-created by government, labour, civil society, and business, and tailored to the real developmental needs of our people.
It was a powerful and necessary vision for a province emerging from the scars of colonial neglect, apartheid-induced underdevelopment, and systemic marginalisation. The ECSECC was never meant to be a bureaucracy unto itself. It was meant to be the developmental conscience of the province, a think-tank and catalyst, mobilising evidence, strategy, social partners towards alignment of the integrated development agenda.
Three decades on – a mixed report card
Thirty years later, we must engage honestly. We have made strides, yes, but the gains made have not been without challenges. The Eastern Cape is still one of the poorest provinces in South Africa, with high levels of poverty, unemployment and inequality, particularly among youth and women.
Yet we are also a province of immense potential. The Eastern Cape is emerging as South Africa's hub in automotive manufacturing, green energy infrastructure, agriculture, coastal tourism, and digital innovation. We host two of the most competitive Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in the country, Coega and East London, with an ever-expanding export footprint.
Our province is fast becoming South Africa's green energy corridor, with vast solar and wind assets attracting global attention.
We are home to some of the country's top agricultural regions, yet large tracts of arable communal lands remain underutilised. The Eastern Cape also produces top talent, yet we lose many of our brightest to urban migration and a lack of economic opportunities.
This is a tale of two Eastern Capes. One is striving, rising and investing. The other is stuck in the cycle of structural poverty. The question before us, and indeed before ECSECC, is simple: How do we close this gap?
If ECSECC is to remain relevant, it must undergo a fundamental strategic renewal, from passive research to catalytic implementation support.
The ECSECC must become more than just a research institution. It must be embedded into the implementation machinery of the province, tracking delivery, aligning strategies across departments and municipalities, and ensuring policy coherence.
From policy advice to strategic foresight and risk anticipation
The world is changing rapidly. ECSECC must equip the province to anticipate and prepare for future shocks — be it climate disruption, geopolitical shifts, AI-driven job displacement or energy transitions.
From consultation to true social compacting
The founding mandate of ECSECC placed it at the heart of social partnership. But dialogue without follow-through has bred consultation fatigue. ECSECC must restore trust by ensuring that the voices of workers, the unemployed, the youth, rural women and communities directly influence planning and delivery.
From provincial focus to global connectivity
The ECSECC must help position the Eastern Cape not just as a South African opportunity zone, but as an African frontier for investment, innovation and sustainable development.
What must the ECSECCs do now?
This critical institution in our developmental quest as a province must undertake a candid audit of its impact with ruthless honesty, with clarity as to where it has made a difference and where it has fallen short of expectations. The ECSECC must be bold in renewing its leadership ethos and attract bold thinkers, implementers and connectors of ideas to opportunity.
It must build technical depth in areas like climate finance, smart agriculture, digital economies, and labour market reforms. This entity must strengthen its data systems to support evidence-based decision-making at all levels of government. And most crucially, ECSECC must align every strategy to the needs of the people, not the architecture of bureaucracy.
The province will match this ambition
As the executive council, we are committed to supporting the ECSECC's repositioning. We want it to serve as a key arm in helping the Office of the Premier monitor impact, fast-track priority interventions and work more closely with municipalities, the private sector and academia. We are also reviewing the Provincial Growth and Development Plan (PGDP) and will require ECSECC to lead the integration of climate resilience, spatial justice, inclusive industrialisation and digital transformation in this strategy.
We want an ECSECC that is lean but sharp, nimble but grounded, and visionary but rooted in the realities of our people.
In closing, it is time to be bold
As we engage in this dialogue, I urge all of us to speak frankly and think boldly. This is not just about ECSECC's future, it is also about the Eastern Cape's future. We dare not waste another decade on planning alone. We must do. We must deliver. We must develop.