/ 18 February 2012

YCL wants Sopa commitments met in Free State

Ycl Wants Sopa Commitments Met In Free State

The Free State government needs to act on the commitments promised by premier Ace Magashule in the state-of-the-province address (Sopa), the Young Communist League (YCL) said on Saturday.

“We are overwhelmed by commitments of the Free State provincial government but call for more action on the ground, and for a much more rapid strategy to translate these commitments into concrete reality,” Free State YCL spokesperson Fezile Sonkwane said.

He said the YCL had identified several issues that needed to be discussed in the address, and most of them were met.

“On health, we in the YCL … criticised the provincial government about the availability of medicines, including improved efficiency in the link between warehouses, hospitals and clinics,” he said.

“And as expected we received … a positive response.”

‘Thank Sopa’
Magashule reportedly said during his address on Thursday that the availability of medicine has risen to 98% across the districts in January, as opposed to the 68% in 2009.

Sonkwane said the YCL also had concerns about the electricity infrastructure in the province.

“We were satisfied by the response of Sopa that during the past year, Eskom achieved 6 559 electrification connections with a target of an additional 1 454 connections this year,” he said.

“Without these interventions, it would almost be impossible for government to render services. We thank Sopa for reporting on progress made.” –Sapa