SACP REACTION TO THE STATE OF THE NATION DELIVERED BY PRESIDENT ZUMA
The SACP welcomes the State of the Nation Address delivered by the President of the Republic last night. The address marks an important paradigm shift that has been underway within government over the recent period - a shift that begins to focus much more substantially on the state's role in leveraging transformation of the productive economy. In the past, there were attempts to confine the state's role largely to redistributive efforts, leaving the productive economy to dominant private sector players on the market.
As the President noted last night, over the past 17 years there has been very significant state-led redistribution, including some 15 million recipients of social grants. But despite these achievements and despite over a decade of growth, crisis levels of unemployment and inequality have persisted.
In some detail, the State of Nation address began to outline a range of interventions the state will undertake to leverage transformation in production itself - ranging from mining and mineral beneficiation and manufacturing, renewable energy initiatives, to SMME and cooperatives, and infrastructure development. There is a clear intention to use line department budgets, state owned enterprises and state development finance institutions in a strategically integrated way to leverage systemic transformation of our productive economy.
At the same time, the State of Nation address quite correctly emphasised that the 5-million jobs that can be achieved through placing our economy on to a new growth path are not jobs that government on its own will "deliver". This is a challenge that confronts us all - government, the working class, communities and the private sector.
The President also quite correctly did not play into the agenda of opposition forces who are seeking to drive a wedge between our job-creation priorities and the struggle for decent work for all. "Decent work" is not some time-less concept whose static defining features can be ticked off one by one. Decent work is a dynamic reality whose features are defined, deepened and advanced in the struggle to push back a system premised on private profit maximisation and not on social needs. President Zuma reaffirmed government's commitment to the struggle for decent work including through addressing the many pernicious features of labour broking. The struggle for jobs and the struggle for decent work are complementary struggles within the context of placing our economy onto a different growth path.
The SACP further welcomes the reaffirmation of the fight against crime and corruption. The SACP will continue to mobilise our communities as active role players in the fight against corruption. Corruption is theft from the poor and perpetrators must be brought to book regardless of who they are.
The SACP is looking forward to further details from various Ministers as they release details of broad initiatives in the field of health especially the National Health Insurance policy document to be released this year for engagement, education, fighting crime and corruption and the creation of jobs as announced by the President.
We are fully aware as the SACP that all this measures will remain a subject of intense class battle. Those opposed to this transformation initiatives will seek to appropriate some of the measures for their narrow class motives. We will mobilise our structures to actively participate in realising this progressive measures and making this paradigm shift a reality.
Statement issued by the SACP, February 11 2011
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