Eastern Cape premier Phumulo Masualle said the government had created a dependency in citizens and this was “false and misplaced”.
This, he said had led to a sense of entitlement among citizens waiting for the government to cater to their every whim.
Masualle was delivering a keynote address at the government’s social sector summit at the East London ICC on Tuesday.
The summit was hosted by the provincial department of social development for NGOs and civil society organisations.
It was held in response to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s state of the nation address which called for dialogue between government and civil society to address structural issues facing provinces.
Masualle said the government had created a system that made citizens docile and entitled. He said civil society organisations had to play an advocacy role and challenge communities to take responsibility for their rights.
“We have over-provided perhaps more than we can sustain. We’ve created too much dependency and a sense that we can do everything.”
He said nothing could be achieved when government acted alone.” Where we have tried we have dismally failed.”
He said civil society organisations had to grow and become relevant in changing societal conditions. This would enable them to engender a sense of awareness in the communities they serve.
Political analyst Dr Somadoda Fikeni, who delivered an address on the landscape of the social sector in the province, said while the Eastern Cape’s greatest potential was its human capital, its greatest problem was the fragmentation visible in different sectors.
Fikeni said power dynamics, differing political purposes, factionalism in political parties, and corruption were crippling the province’s potential. “The province is pregnant with talent but when the different sectors do not work together, this nullifies efforts to succeed.”
Social development MEC Phumza Dyantyi said the summit was aimed at crafting a social compact between government and civil society. “The compact will address the structural deficiencies of poverty, unemployment and inequality in the Eastern Cape.”
She said civil society had to act as the department’s eyes and ears because it had a better awareness of what plagued communities in the province...