The ANC is still looking at reducing the number of provinces, legislature and governance committee chairperson Nomaindia Mfeketo said on Monday.
“That policy is at the bottom of trying to find an effective way of making sure that the state is efficient and responsive and much closer to the citizens,” she told reporters in Johannesburg during a discussion on the National General Council documents.
Mfeketo said the country now had more metros and municipalities than it had 21 years ago.
“Isn’t it better to sort of review the provinces so that there are few but bigger provinces than what we have?” she asked.
However, the ultimate decision on the provinces lay in the hands of the citizens of the country, who would be engaged on the matter.
Mfeketo said there should be a commission set up by President Jacob Zuma to look into the matter.
The configuration of provinces was still a work in progress and a lot had already been done.
The legislature and governance committee would report back to the NGC on recommendations made on this.
Mfeketo denied the assertion that the configuration of provinces was about recapturing the Western Cape from the DA.
“It’s got nothing to do with reclaiming the Western Cape. It’s talking about capacitating the state, making sure the resources are shared across the provinces equally,” she said.
Source – News 24
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