Parliament can fire Zuma on 1 March 2016
18 February 2016
This afternoon President Jacob Zuma used his reply to the State of the Nation Address debate to once again blame our current economic crisis purely on international conditions. The global economy is not healthy, but South Africa is still under-performing when compared to its peers because of poor leadership and policy decision.
The President also used his speech to correct his unacceptable previous statement that the ANC comes before South Africa. We welcome his statement today, but he must now match his commitment with action that shows that South Africa truly does come first. He can start by making sure that lucrative government contracts are no longer dished out to members of his own family, and well-connected ANC cronies.
The DA welcomes the President’s announcement of the establishment of separate gangs and narcotics bureaus. This has been DA policy ever since the specialised units were first disbanded, and we’ve consistently called for their return over the years. We welcome the President’s decision reverse the ANC’s position in this regard.
On education, the President rattled off statistics about access to education, deliberately ignoring the biggest obstacle to fixing the quality of education in our schools – the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU). Until its stronghold is broken, the quality of education for young South Africans will continue to decline.