ZUMA DELIVERS STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS

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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KDEM SF
SUBJECT: ZUMA DELIVERS STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS


1. (U) On June 3, Charge and Cape Town Poloff attended President
Jacob Zuma's first State of the Nation address to Parliament. Zuma's
theme for the Address was "Parliament entrenching people-centered
democracy in achieving development goals." The event, attended by
former Presidents Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki, is one of the few
occasions when the Executive, Judiciary and Legislative branches of
government come together in one place. Speaking in all the official
languages of the country, Zuma outlined the government's five-year
plan aimed at developing South Africa's economy and highlighted the
major challenges affecting his administration, including crime, the
widening inequality gap, blockages in the criminal justice system,
unemployment and poverty, quality of education, and the global
economic crisis.

2. (U) Zuma defined ten priority areas in the Medium Term Strategic
Framework that the government would focus on for 2009, but
reiterated that the fight against poverty remained the cornerstone
of government's focus. As expected the global economic crises and
its impact on the South African economy featured prominently in his
speech. He said creating employment would be at the centre of
economic policies and would influence the types of investment to
attract and job-creation initiatives. Zuma added that South Africa
aims to develop a "scaled-up" industrial plan that will focus on
manufacturing, services, and construction to help create
"worthwhile" jobs. He said that government hoped to create a more
"inclusive economy" by developing rural areas, while also ensuring
that programs run by the Department of Public Works create 500,000
jobs by December 2009. He, however, warned that progress would be
hampered by the global economic crises and said, "the economic
downturn will affect the pace at which our country is able to
address the social and economic challenges it faces, but it will not
alter the direction of our development." (Comment: Zuma's speech
comes a week after South Africa officially entered its first
recession in since 2000 as the economy contracted 6.4 per cent in
the first quarter of 2009 following negative growth in the fourth
quarter of 2008. The announcement brought with it further fears of
job cuts, and interest rates were slashed another full point to 7.5
per cent, although unions demanded they be cut even further to
stimulate the economy. Trade unions, which were instrumental in
securing the re-election of the ANC, have placed increased pressure
on Zuma to address their demands in his speech, however, given the
bleak economic climate, the President had little room for maneuver.
(Septel) Zuma's balancing act between pleasing workers, unions and
investors is likely to become more complicated and difficult as he
tries to deliver on promises the ANC has been making since coming to
power. It is quite possible that Zuma could face a backlash from the
Unions in the future if his policies do not approach their
interests. End Comment)

3. (U) Zuma stressed education as one of the priorities of the
government over the next five years. He said the government planned
to expand the Early Childhood Development Program with the aim of
ensuring universal access to Grade R (pre-school) and doubling the
number of 0-4 year-old children by 2014, while it hoped to increase
enrolment rates in secondary schools to 95% over the same period. He
said to improve school management, formal training will be a
precondition for promoting teachers to become principals or heads of
Qprecondition for promoting teachers to become principals or heads of
department. Zuma stated that to promote lifelong learning, the Adult
Basic Education and Training program will be intensified. He said,
"we have to ensure that training and skills development initiatives
in the country respond to the requirements of the economy."

4. (U) Zuma continued by acknowledging the failures in the
healthcare system and said, "we are seriously concerned about the
deterioration of the quality of health care, aggravated by the
steady increase in the burden of disease in the past decade and a
half." Zuma pledged to reduce the inequalities in health care
provisions, to boost human resources capacity, revitalize hospitals
and clinics, and intensify the fight against HIV/AIDS and TB. He
stated that the government would work to improve the implementation
of the Comprehensive Plan for the Treatment, Management and Care of
HIV and AIDS so as to reduce the rate of new HIV infections by 50%
by the year 2011. He added that the aim was also to reach 80% of
those in need of ARV treatment by 2011. Zuma also revealed his plan
to roll out a National Health Insurance scheme which will require
the urgent rehabilitation of public hospitals.

5. (U) Zuma called on all South Africans to fight crime together. He
said transforming the judiciary would address key issues such as
enhancing judicial independence, entrenching internal systems of
judicial accountability, as well as ensuring full access to justice
by all. He stressed it was also critically important to improve the
efficiency of the courts and the performance of prosecutors,
detectives, forensic and intelligence services. Zuma said there was
a need to increase law enforcement personnel in all sectors of the
justice system, especially the number of prosecutors and Legal Aid
Board personnel and police detectives. He discussed the renaming of
the Ministry of Safety and Security and said the name change was to
emphasize that South Africa wants real operational energy in police
work. He added that the key focus will be combating organized crime,
as well as crimes against women and children and set a goal of
reducing serious and violent crimes by 7% to 10% per annum. Zuma

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highlighted other initiatives on which the government will focus,
such as a Border Management Agency, intensifying efforts against
cyber crime and identity theft, and improving systems in jails to
reduce repeat offending. He added that the government will pay
particular attention to combating corruption and fraud in the public
sector.

6. (U) In the field of international relations Zuma said the main
goal of the of the South African government is to ensure that its
foreign relations contribute to the creation of an environment
conducive to sustainable economic growth and development. Zuma said
government would continue to prioritize the African continent by
strengthening the African Union and its structures, and give special
focus to the implementation of the New Partnership for Africa's
Development (NEPAD). Zuma said South Africa remained committed to
peacekeeping efforts on the African continent, especially the
Saharawi Arab Republic and Darfur in the Sudan and he reiterated
that South Africa will continue to encourage a peaceful and
sustainable settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on
the two-state solution. He highlighted the plight of the Zimbabwean
people and stated that South Africa will participate in promoting
inclusive government until free and fair elections are held in
Zimbabwe. Zuma also noted that it is imperative for all
peace-loving countries in the world to support the inclusive
Zimbabwean government to achieve economic recovery.

7. (U) Zuma reaffirmed South Africa's readiness for hosting the 2010
FIFA World Cup and gave assurances that South Africa was on schedule
to meet all its obligations. He paid homage to President Mandela and
declared that July 18 (Mandela's birthday) would henceforth be known
as Mandela Day. He also gave his commitment to work with opposition
parties in Parliament and urged all South Africans to continue
working for reconciliation and unity.

8. (U) Opposition parties welcomed the objectives put forward by
government but were all critical of the fact that President Zuma
failed to outline how his policies would be implemented. Democratic
Alliance parliamentary leader, Athol Trollip, said Zuma's speech
marked a very particular and distinct ideological shift towards a
socialist agenda, while Independent Democrat Patricia De Lille said
'the goals President Jacob Zuma has set for Government for the next
five years are laudable, but we have heard them all before." Cope's
Bishop Dandala said the speech was "hot on promises but thin on
detail." Although failing to outline the finer details of his
policies, Zuma's speech is seen as unifying and designed to appeal
to all South Africans. It would appear that Zuma has been granted a
reprieve and honeymoon, for now. However, should he fail to deliver
on the goals and promises outlined in his speech, his government
could face a far tougher resistance from the public and the trade
unions in the future.