After pressure from the CIP, DA finally challenge the Division of Revenue Act

In a recent press release, Peter Johnson MPP of the DA has hailed the unanimous support of the Provincial Parliament’s Budget Committee for its negotiating mandate on the Division of Revenue Bill (DoRB) as a triumph of collective resolve. The DA frames this as a concerted push to ensure that “national fiscal allocations reflect the real pressures facing the Western Cape.”

This comes after June’s viral footage of Jack Miller of the Cape Independence Party being removed from City of Cape Town council, and his recent and widely-shared debate performance, in which he outlined the drastic imbalance between what Cape taxpayers are funding and what they receive in return:

This wouldn’t be the first time the DA has only offered to deliver on its promises to voters once the independence movemnt lit a fire under them. After a year in workshop with the movement over the topic of devolution (which is in the DA’s manifesto), Phil Craig collaborated with the VF+ to place the People’s Bill on the floor – a bill that would have granted the Western Cape all the necessary governing autonomy to contain the decay, under constitutional and international law.

But the DA in their panic at the possibility of losing momentum, voted to push the bill out, while writing a toothless bill called the Provincial Powers Bill, which mandates only that they ask politely for the ANC to give them more powers, and the ANC duly obliged them with a little protest to draw attention, as if there was anything to be concerend about. A fine distraction.

And likewise, this latest manoevre is just a promise to plan for having talks about negotiations. But with taxpayers fuming over rates increases, they need to look busy.

After 16 years governing the province and 19 years controlling the City of Cape Town, the DA’s sudden pretence of urgency is step in the right direction, but this tardiness demonstrates a profound resentment of the interests of its residents. Compounding this is the party’s negligible sway in national politics, where it has repeatedly allowed the African National Congress (ANC) to trample its so-called “red lines,” from the BELA Act to ministerial appointments.

Another recommendation urges the National Treasury to detail the financial fallout from the recent public sector wage agreement, which has left provinces fiscally stretched, mainly because they don’t have the courage to strip away useless appointments in the public sector (education in particular) and freeze out the unions. The party could have pushed harder for sustainable terms. Instead, it now demands transparency after the fact; a reactive posture that underscores its failure to safeguard fiscal stability earlier.

The Western Cape’s demographic surge, with a population increase of over 19% in the past decade, is vastly increasing the strain. This growth, straining schools, hospitals, housing, and infrastructure, is hardly news. The DA calls for a revision of the provincial equitable share formula to reflect the latest census data—a logical step, but one that should have been a priority long ago. The province’s population is projected to swell by another 2 million over the next decade, yet the current formula, which allocates funds without fully accounting for such shifts, has disadvantaged the Western Cape for years. The Provincial Equitable Share has risen nominally, but, as the Western Cape Government itself notes, it fails to match the pace of growth. Having governed since 2009, the DA has had ample time to lobby for reform. Its current plea feels more like an admission of past inaction than a proactive stance.

The mandate also seeks bolstered support for cash-strapped local governments and high-growth sectors like agriculture, aligning with the DA’s “Growth for Jobs” strategy. The province has invested R25 million to modernise the Provincial Veterinary Laboratory and backed projects like the Lower Olifants River Water Users Association. These are sound moves, but hardly novel. The DA has touted this economic framework for years, yet its implementation has not secured the national resources needed to match rhetoric with results.

The DA’s optimism that its NCOP delegate can sway National Treasury would be amusing if the issue weren’t a serious one. After years of governance, the party’s influence beyond the Western Cape remains minimal. The ANC’s dominance has seen budget cuts and wage deals imposed with little regard for DA objections, a pattern of capitulation that undermines the mandate’s prospects. Unanimous committee support is a minor victory, but it does not erase the DA’s responsibility for the province’s predicaments—many of which have deepened over its 16-year tenure.

They are a party of legacy that, after nearly two decades, is still playing catch-up.