Letter: Boost East Cape capacity

RE “State staff raking in the cash” and “East Cape loses third of R1.5bn schools infrastructure budget” (The Herald, March 9).

One of the major challenges for our province is the annual amount of emigration to other provinces.

Up until 2011, five million people were reported to have left the province according to StatsSA.

Many of these are skilled workers who take up posts in other provinces such as KwaZulu-Natal, the Western Cape and Gauteng.

Even my students insist they will leave the province once they have graduated.

Being alarmist about salaries paid to government officials or those working at provincial state agencies and demanding cutbacks does not help.

Offering higher salaries than presented elsewhere in the country is a competitive advantage.

Yet the provincial MEC for finance must be commended for suggesting that he will await the report indicating whether (the provincial) government is getting its money’s worth. Compensation must match capacity, competence and carrying out of duties.

This lack of capacity is exemplified in the return of R530-million to the national fiscus – money that should have been spent on the much-needed education infrastructure.

Lack in construction capacity in particular but also lack in capacity of general planning.

Maybe, a provincial (state) construction company is needed; like the one mooted nationally?

Originally from the Western Cape, I left a much higher-paying job to come to the Eastern Cape to do my bit.

But unless we all do our bit in strengthening capacity and building our province, our children will not be motivated to pass matric, never mind university.