ZULULAND commentators say President Jacob Zuma failed to address the scourge of corruption at local government level during his ‘optimistic’ State of the Nation address on Thursday.
Described as a ‘rosy report card’ for his five-year tenure, political analyst Dr Christopher Isike said there were no major surprises as Zuma largely focused on the ANC government’s achievements in the 20 years since the country’s first democratic elections in 1994.
The address was Zuma’s last as President of the current government before the elections on 7 May.
Dr Isike, Head of Department: Political Science and Public Administration at the University of Zululand, said the ‘speech was somewhat expected’ and all eyes would now be on the next address after the elections.
‘The achievements highlighted were good in my opinion, but the President did not talk about a strategy to combat corruption and how to handle service delivery challenges at local government level.
‘ While one welcomes visits by senior officials to address these challenges, I feel there needs to be direct elections with more independent candidates coming to the fore at local government,’ said Isike.
Economy
However, Zuma was praised for his ‘strong’ words to both labour and industry.
‘The main positive was when Zuma told unions and captains of industry he would not allow them to rock the boat to put the economy in jeopardy. The President said he needed them to be more responsible to ensure job creation. He stood up as a leader in this instance.
‘Zuma was also transparent in acknowledging challenges like sanitation and housing delivery, admitting that more needed to be done,’ Isike told the Zululand Observer.
Immediate Past President of the Zululand Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Thula Mkhwanazi, said it was ‘pleasing to hear government’s intention to shorten the time taken to do business in South Africa’.
‘The process of the Environmental Impact Assessment will be shorter and will allow for environmentally friendly investments to get off the ground quicker.
‘Corruption is still a huge hindering factor on our economy. As business we would have liked for the President to be more precise on government’s plan of action to eradicate this monster. Job creation under current economic climate remains a momentous challenge,’ said Mkhwanazi.
Zuma’s progress card:
• The economy has grown at 3,2% a year from 1994 to 2012 despite the global recession which claimed a million jobs.
• There are now 15 million people with jobs in the country, the highest ever in our history, and more than 650 thousand jobs were created last year.
• 3,7 million work opportunities were created during the past five years.
• 300 new health facilities have been built, including 160 new clinics during the past five years.
• About three million housing units and more than 855 000 serviced sites were delivered since 1994.
• Nearly 500 informal settlements have been replaced with quality housing and basic services during the past five years.
• The overall crime rate has decreased by 21% since 2002.
