Zuma promises year of delivery

President Jacob Zuma will deliver his fourth State of the Nation Address to a joint sitting of Parliament next Thursday and South Africans will be waiting with baited breath to hear what government’s plans are for the future.

Free State residents have called on President Jacob Zuma to prioritise job creation, crime fighting, and the improvement of the quality of education during 2012.
The plea came days before Zuma addresses Parliament during his annual State of the Nation Address.
The address is part of the opening of Parliament and is a key event on South Africa’s Parliamentary and political calendar. The president addresses the nation in his capacity as head of state, not only as head of government.
It is also an opportunity for the president to take stock of the country’s domestic and foreign situation, and to chart a common direction that should be taken to enhance efforts to achieve a better life for all.
Analysts believe after Zuma announced ambitious plans for creating jobs through economic transformation in 2011, that 2012 will be the year of implementation.

“It is time that grandiose plans come down to grassroots level to make a difference to the lives of ordinary citizens. To achieve this, government needs to garner the needed capacity. Where it does not exist, it will be created especially at provincial and local level,” said a political analyst from North-West University, André Duvenhage.
The president said in his 2011 address that research has indicated that government can create jobs in six priority areas: infrastructure development, agriculture, mining and beneficiation, manufacturing, the green economy, and tourism.

Zuma announced then that a R9-billion jobs fund had been established to finance job creation initiatives over the next three years. The Industrial Development Corporation had also set aside R10-billion over the next five years for investment in economic activities with high jobs potential.
Zuma also announced R20-billion tax breaks to promote investments, expansions, and upgrades in the manufacturing sector.
It is expected that the president will elaborate on gains made with regard to these interventions.
Business Unity South Africa’s president Futhi Mtoba believes it is imperative to revisit South Africa’s growth performance to identify ways to build a more inclusive job-rich economy.

“Europe is a factor. Europe as a whole is a major trading partner for South Africa. And for the last 12 to 15 months has had a major impact on our manufacturing industry and other export sectors as well.”- Pravin Gordhan

“SA needs to grow more rapidly, apart from anything else. The more things go wrong abroad, the more SA must look to the efficacy of its domestic policies and its international competitiveness.”
Mtoba said the country has remained a “modest” growth performer –
3.5 percent.

“A medium term economic recovery is underway in South Africa, but for various internal and external reasons it is sluggish compared with the 2004-2007 economic upswings.”
Mtoba added that the economic and business outlook for 2012 remained modest, but positive at about 2.5 to 3 percent.

However, she warned that this was insufficient to meet the country’s socio-economic challenges and a much better economic performance should be generated in the years ahead. “2012 needs to be the year in which SA must see more tangible outcomes from key programmes like the New Growth Path and the National Development Plan.” Mtoba said the private sector remains key to the country’s quest for creating jobs at a fast pace and in a sustainable manner.
“Some 85 percent of all jobs are in the private sector. As such policies should be framed to induce the private sector to produce, invest, and employ more. 2012 must highlight the policies and environment needed within which production, investment, and job creation can flourish, especially for small and emerging business.”Minister Pravin Gordhan said in an interview with CNN last week that economic growth “is certainly going to be below 3 percent as we go into 2012”.

Gordhan, who will update growth forecasts in his budget speech later in February, said in October the economy will grow 3.4 percent this year. But, according to the International Monetary Fund, Europe, which buys about a third of South Africa’s manufactured exports, will contract 0.5 percent as a result of a worsening debt crisis.
“Europe is a factor. Europe as a whole is a major trading partner for South Africa. And for the last 12 to 15 months has had a major impact on our manufacturing industry and other export sectors as well,” said Gordhan.

The Reserve Bank estimates the economy will expand 2.8 percent this year. That is less than half the 7 percent pace needed annually for the government to meet its goal of creating five million jobs by 2020.
To this end, Gordhan said investment in infrastructure is key to supporting growth.

“Government has been hard at work to ask itself the question how we not allow the global crisis to dampen all prospects of growth and employment in South Africa.”Zuma also told the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad) heads of state and government orientation committee meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, this week that the economic decline of the developed North makes it crucial for African countries to increase trade among themselves and other developing countries. “We all know that efforts to accelerate the development and structural transformation of African economies are hindered by very substantial obstacles, particularly those related to finance and infrastructure, as well as governance and human capital. “But we should not wait until all of these obstacles are resolved to create productive jobs. Other economies managed to expand production and exports while still grappling with the same sorts of constraints currently observed in Sub-Saharan Africa.”Aside from economic challenges, the president is also expected to touch on administrative challenges.Duvenhage said interventions from national government, like the one witnessed in Limpopo last year, cannot be ruled out.

“BUSA president Futhi Mtoba said the economic and business outlook for 2012 remains modest, but positive at about 2.5 to 3 percent.”
The analyst added that he would not be surprised if the president instituted a thorough investigation into the state of affairs in provincial and local government given the current “crisis”.

“It could also be the continuation of a ‘summit’ that was held within the ANC towards the end of 2010. The issue should also be placed on the agenda for the Mangaung conference later

this year.”

The gains made with the traditional strategic priorities of the ANC  - that of poverty alleviation, social security, job creation, education, health, and the fight against crime and corruption – will also undoubtedly be touched on.“In this context there could be referred to the plans to establish two new universities, in the Northern Cape and Mpumalanga, more details about the national health plan, job creation, and infrastructural planning. Rural development and land reform will also receive attention.”

Duvenhage also predicts that the 100 year milestone of the ANC will receive some attention, although indirectly.“The importance of the alliance and discipline within the structures could be touched on as well.”COP17, the road ahead, and the implications it holds for Africa is also expected to receive attention.

Meanwhile, ordinary citizens have their own expectations from the president’s speech.Nthabiseng Skonolo from Phase 9 in Bloemfontein is expecting the president to speak more about job creation and township development.
“I am unemployed and I have been looking for a job for four years. I walk to town every day looking for a job and I hope to get one this year. I think the president must emphasise job creation and come up with strategy to reach this objective. The township life is heartbreaking because we do not have basic services. We know the government is trying, but we hope they will do more.

“They can also support what some other communities are doing to fight crime. They have set up community patrollers that take turns patrolling our streets. This enhances the police work and could help in the fight against crime. Lack of housing remains a problem too. I live in a shack and I need a decent home. Please Mr President, help us to attain better life.”

Mpotseng Mthetho is a Grade 11 pupil and is looking forward to listening to the president.

According to her, she is concerned about young people who laze around and do not attend school or work.

“If President Zuma can talk about this issue and come up with ways of tackling this problem. Maybe some of them do not afford to go to school or they just do not think about their future. If there can be a way to encourage the youth to take education seriously and effectively and helping orphans to further their studies. This maybe will give youth enough skills and solve the problem of unemployment.”Mampho Mokoena is an elder from Mangaung who receives a government grant. She uses her money to care for her five grandchildren, who are at school. The only thing she is looking forward to is “getting more money added on my pension”.

Motoai Lephoi is unemployed, but optimistic that the president will touch on this issue.“Unemployment is a priority in South Africa. I am not working now, but I hope I will get a job one day. Township revitalisation is also important because it will mean we will have decent roads, houses, and toilets.”

Big screens will be erected across the country so communities will have the opportunity to witness the President’s address, which will be broadcast live on television and radio from 19:00 on February 9.
After the address, a series of seminars will be held where ministers will travel to each district in the country to unpack and discuss the State of the Nation Address with them.

Gains made by government in 2011

-More than 10 million people received child support grants.

-Households with flushing or chemical toilets increased to 8.6 million.

-Households with taps in their sites went up to 4.1 million.

-The murder rate dropped by 6.5 percent.

-The matric pass rate increased to 67.8 percent.

-On average, 1 019 formal housing units were built per day between 1996 and 2010.

-Source: South African Institute of Race Relations, Statistics South Africa