State of the Nation: Five key issues for President Zuma to address
Jacob Zuma's State of the Nation address will mark the beginning of a new era in South Africa - one where government will either act decisively to fix past mistakes and take our country forward, or one where past policies will be allowed to hinder real democratic growth and development. If we are to move forward, the Democratic Alliance (DA) believes President Zuma must address the following five key issues:
1. The Economy
South Africa is now in a full-blown recession; we must create jobs to pull us out of it. Not artificial, government-driven jobs in public works programmes, but real, sustainable jobs in industries that work. Therefore, we need a resuscitation plan which is based on industries which are able to grow and prosper in the new economic climate, not that are promoted by the self-interest of unions. One key initiative the DA has proposed is the implementation of Exporting Processing Zones. New initiatives like this are key to turning round our situation, and we hope to see a plan for this in the President's speech.
2. The State of Service Delivery
The problems of delivery cannot be solved by giving the central state more power to enforce its will; in fact this will only stultify services and limit choice. Nowhere is this more pertinent than with regard to the delivery of basic services. But we are seeing increasing threats to provincial and local government powers and increasingly convoluted and interventionist rules regulating government administration. We hope to see the announcement that laws such as the Single Public Service Bill and the Constitution 17th Amendment Bill will be reconsidered.
Importantly, President Zuma needs to set out exactly how the two new departments in the Presidency will work and reassure the public that they do not represent an attempt to centralise power.
3. The Judiciary
A healthy democracy needs a strong, independent judiciary to maintain the rule of law. Using state resources to endlessly postpone, or even terminate, the court cases of people in authority who face criminal charges, undermines the judiciary, as do insinuated threats to the independence of judges. The DA is looking for a statement in this speech confirming the importance of judicial independence and committing this government to erasing any political influence over judges' decisions.
4. Education
A successful education system is essential to any democracy and the prosperous livelihood and welfare of its citizens. To date, the ANC government has failed to turn around the poor level of basic education offered to ordinary South Africans at the one end of the spectrum, and failed to deliver a world class tertiary education system at the other end of the spectrum. To do this, the government needs to take a firm line with unions, embrace and reward excellence as well as identify mediocrity and underperformance and act to counter it.
To this end, President Zuma needs to explain how the two new education departments will work and complement each other in pursuit of excellence.
5. Democratic Culture
Under President Mbeki the ‘corporate' culture that defined government and the interaction of South African citizens with it, was one marked by inefficiency, poor customer service, a lack of accountability and hostility towards the constitutional ideals of transparency and openness. Jacob Zuma has a real chance to turn this around, to create a government where inefficiency and poor service is countered by consequence, where the state's interaction with the public - particularly with regards to departments like Home Affairs and the Police - is marked by efficient and friendly service and where decisions of state are transparent and open.
Statement issued by Athol Trollip MP, Democratic Alliance parliamentary leader, June 2 2009
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