Zuma paints a ‘good’ picture for SA
The focus of President Jacob Zuma’s State of the Nation Address was on the successes of the country since 1994.
JOHANNESBURG – President Zuma started his speech on an encouraging note when he said, “We were able to overcome all that pain of the past and build a new society.”
Creating a sense of delivering his best State of the Nation Address since the beginning of his term in 2009; Zuma was slammed for being, ‘out of touch with the suffering of South Africans’.
According to the Democratic Alliance (DA) Parliamentary Leader, Lindiwe Mazibuko, “President Jacob Zuma showed us tonight that he is out of touch with the suffering of ordinary South Africans.
“While the President painted a rosy picture of job creation under his tenure, the reality is very different.”
This comes after President Zuma reported, “Jobs are now being created again. There are now 15 million people with jobs in the country, the highest ever in our history, and over 650 thousand jobs were created last year, according to Stats SA.”
However, the president did admit that there was still a lot to be done to address the issue of unemployment; especially among the youth. In the same breath he assured the cabinet, “We are taking a number of measures, including the Employment Tax Incentive Act, which encourages employers to hire younger workers.
“Regulations will be passed to ensure that this does not affect unsubsidised or older workers adversely.
“Further measures are contained in the National Youth Accord that was signed in Soweto last April.
“The Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) and the Community Work Programme continue to be an effective cushion for the poor and the youth.”
While the president showed commitment in addressing corruption and reported on the work done by the National Anti-Corruption hotline, Mazibuko said, “He has no credibility in the fight against corruption, because he has still not answered for the 783 charges of corruption against him, as well as the R200 million in public money which he has spent on his private home at Nkandla.”
Some of the achievements by the National Anti-Corruption hotline include a dismissal of 1 542 officials, 140 officials fined their three-month salary, 20 officials demoted, 355 officials given final written warnings and 204 officials were prosecuted.
While opposition parties slammed the president’s speech, Zuma said the idea was not to put together plans at this stage, but that will be done under the new government.
