FF Plus reaction to Pres. Zuma’s mid-year report; Zuma running away from Parliament

11 August 2015

“Why did President Zuma not deliver his mid-year report to Parliament? It is clear that he is running away from Parliament,” was Dr. Pieter Mulder’s, Leader of the FF Plus, reaction after the President had delivered his report to the media in Pretoria.

If the President had delivered his report to Parliament, as should be the case, opposition parties would have been able to enter into a debate with him about it and pointed out the mistakes in his report. As long as the ANC government believes that South Africa’s poor economic growth rate is related to world trends, there is no hope for South Africa out of the current poor economic situation. The poor economic growth and increasing unemployment can be directly linked to the government’s labour and economic policy.

Worldwide, economic history has shown that governments cannot create jobs. Governments can only create positive circumstances and the climate within which the private sector can grow and in so doing, create jobs. Communist and socialist countries failed precisely because the state believed that it could create jobs and control the economy by doing this.

If the Eastern Germans could not make Communism work to the advantage of everybody in society in 40 years, nobody will be able to make Communism work. The South African government, under the strong influence of the SACP in Cabinet however believes that with the creation of new posts and the refusal to, for example, privatise Eskom, the SAA or Telkom, it could resolve the country’s economic problems. The President’s mid-year report proves that government has still not let go of this short-sighted economic policy direction.

Statement issued by Dr. Pieter Mulder, FF Plus Leader, August 11 2015