ACDP not impressed with Zuma’s SONA

The African Christian Democratic Party was not impressed with President Jacob Zuma’s State of the Nation Address 2016.
We believe President Zuma, in the light of the upcoming local government elections, used SONA as a politicking campaign platform. Why else did the bulk of his address pertain to past projects at a time when South Africa is plunging into a national crisis? Was it not a shoddy attempt by the president to prove service delivery so as to win credibility with the South Africa public? South Africans expected answers from SONA but received none. There was no innovative plan or strategy for the future to get South Africa out of the current mess it finds itself in.
President Zuma did not address the excessive unemployment in South Africa. In this regard, the ACDP expected him to put a plan on the table to reverse the dwindling domestic and foreign investor confidence in South Africa. We felt that the president contradicts himself when he says he wants to make South Africa attractive to foreign investors. How are foreigners expected to benefit  when, in the same speech, he says that foreigners are not allowed to own any land?
While the president mentioned the word “corruption” he evaded elaboration on how government would tackle and deal with corruption in public office. At this point it would have been ideal and appropriate for the president to explain his decision to pay for the Nkandla upgrades. He could have explained why he initially denied that he benefitted and why the change of heart now. Who knows, perhaps such a gesture would have restored public trust in the president.
Also, the president should have addressed the Fees Must Fall campaign. The ACDP believes that President must take responsibility to resolve this national student crisis since government previously promised to assist tertiary students financially and so reduce their fees. However nothing in this regard was mentioned in the SONA.
Finally the president did not address sufficiently the drought in South Africa. The ACDP believes that given the extent of the crisis, government needs to declare a national disaster. While President Zuma mentioned that the drought had affected five provinces and that government was providing relief to affected communities, it did not address the urgency of the drought situation. He should have a declared a national disaster so that additional funds could be made available to the farmers that are struggling with the drought.
CLLR NEL SEWRAJ
ACDP Provincial Chairman
Ballito