STATE OF THE NATION DEBATE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 CAPE TOWN 000145

AF/S FOR RMARBURG AND MJAMES

SIPDIS

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


1. (U) The State of the Nation Debate was concluded in Parliament on
June 9,
2009 with President Zuma responding to the issues raised by the
various
opposition parties regarding his address last week. In his earlier
State of
the Nation Address Zuma placed emphasis on poverty alleviation,
improved
education, healthcare, employment and South Africa's response to the
global
economic crisis. He also promised to hold Cabinet ministers
accountable
through established targets and output measures and promised to move
towards a
more interactive government, with the Presidency taking the lead.
The debate,
which was opened by Zuma on June 4, 2009, offers the opposition the
once
annual opportunity to take issue with the President and his proposed
policies
and to hear his response.


2. (U) The official opposition, the Democratic Alliance, stated that
although
the President's address was positive and acknowledged that South
Africans
needed to be optimistic in these difficult economic times, they also
need to
be realistic about the economic facts. DA spokesman Ryan Coetzee
said that
Zuma's speech made it clear "that the government and the DA have
significantly
different views on how best to approach economic policy in the years
ahead."
He said that the state was at the centre of the government's
strategy with the
promise of increased social spending, the effect of which will be to
drive up
costs for the taxpayer at a time when few could afford the increased

expenditure. Parliamentary leader, Athol Trollip, said Zuma's words
must
translate into action, and questioned how Zuma could promise action
against
corruption and appoint MPs implicated in the Travelgate scandal.
(Note: A
number of travel agencies and parliamentarians are under
investigation for
their alleged abuse of parliamentary travel vouchers. End Note) He
was also
critical of the proposed National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme, as
the DA
felt that it was important to first "get the basics right" and
appoint
competent managers at all levels of the healthcare system. He
expressed
concern that there has been no formal public participation or
scrutiny with
regards to the NHI. He stated that "a policy of such significant
public
importance demands extensive consultation. It is also of great
concern that
while doctors are not being paid we do not know how much all these
extra
layers of bureaucracy are going to cost us". The DA called upon the

government to provide a costing report for the proposed NHI and for
the
current crisis regarding the working conditions and salaries of
doctors to be
resolved. DA spokesperson for crime and justice, Dianne
Kohler-Barnard,
criticized Zuma's address saying it was vague on curbing crime and
questioned
how renaming a department would "contribute to the reduction of
serious and
violent crimes". She said the government lacked a clear strategy
for dealing
with crime and called upon Zuma to provide leadership and a clear
path
forward. Trollip concluded the DA's debate by commending Zuma for
admitting
"grave challenges when it comes to issues like HIV/Aids and our
skills
deficit." He said that in doing so Zuma had distinguished himself
from Mbeki,
who often denied the extent or threat posed by the HIV/Aids crises.


CAPE TOWN 00000145 002 OF 004



3. (U) Parliament's number two opposition party, the Congress of the
People
(COPE),called on Zuma to spell out in more detail his plans to
tackle the
economic recession. Party leader Mvume Dandala said Zuma's address
raised
questions that "yearn for answers", and said South Africans have
been left
guessing how the government will deal with the recession. Dandala
said Zuma
needs to set out a program that will seek to inspire confidence
among ordinary
people as well as provide clear guidelines on how South Africa will
weather
the storm. "We would like to hear more about the government's
practical
intervention plans as a response to this recession. A clear
statement in this
regard needs to be made. The investor community cannot be left
guessing," he
said. He described the speech as a "wish list" and said that the
President
had not given a clear indication of how he planned to deliver on the
promises
the ANC had made during the election campaign. "This is not the
time to ask
people what they want," he said, "you have to deliver." COPE MP
Hilda Ndude
called on Zuma to stamp out the "hooliganism" within the majority
party and
said COPE would "hold the President responsible" for ensuring that
the
Constitution was upheld at all times and that everyone acted
accordingly. She
said that COPE demands that government delivers on its promise to
deal with
crime efficiently and effectively and called for immediate action
and results.
She praised the President for his call to all South Africans to join
in the
fight against crime, but said she was concerned about a lack of
clear strategy
in this regard. She was heckled by ANC MPs during the debate when
she said
Parliament should never again allow a president to be removed from
office as
former president Thabo Mbeki was last year.


4. (U) The President of the Inkatha Freedom Party, Prince Mangosuthu

Buthelezi, welcomed the 'broad thrust" of President Zuma's state of
the nation
address, although "in language and tone it seemed to indicate a
perceptible
shift to the left." Buthelezi focused on the economic crisis and
called for
the rand to be devalued immediately, predicting that the economic
crisis would
get worse. He said that having a strong Rand is "nothing but
ill-conceived
national pride." He noted that the South African economy is not
reliant on
imports and the country produced enough to ensure that the
devaluation of the
Rand would not necessarily affect the flow of goods and services
consumed by
the lower and middle classes. Buthelezi concluded by saying that
Zuma's
address was "an expression of intent", rather than a detailed
program of
action. He said Zuma had made many pledges that would need to be
carefully
monitored and evaluated. Buthelezi, however, praised the
government's
intention to uplift the poor and supported plans to extend the
Expanded Public
Works Program which the government intends to use to help create
thousands of
jobs.


5. (U) Other opposition parties participated in the debate. The
Independent
Democrats leader Patricia De Lille said that although the list of
goals and
priorities identified by the President are laudable, South Africans
have heard
some of them before and the key issue will be implementation. She
said that

CAPE TOWN 00000145 003 OF 004


without implementation and monitoring the best plans will come to
nothing and
she demanded that the President provide details about how the new
National
Planning Commission housed in the Presidency will work. She praised
the
President on his announcement that there is going to be monitoring
and
evaluation of the performance of Ministers and called upon him to
fire
incompetent Ministers. Bantu Holomisa of the United Democratic
Movement asked
Zuma to convene a round table meeting of all political parties to
debate
critical issues and find local solutions for the impact of the
economic
crises. The Freedom Front Plus welcomed Zuma's proposals to reduce
red-tape
for small business enterprises and to make it easier to do business
in South
Africa but demanded that South Africa have a professional
non-political public
service where "competence and nothing else determines one's position
and
promotion".


6. (U) In his reply to the State of the Nation debate Zuma said that
he would
not abandon the existing economic policies that have guided South
Africa the
last 17 years. He shared opposition parties concern over the
current economic
climate saying "'we agree with a number of speakers about the
seriousness of
the global economic crisis". He reassured Parliament that he would
not
deviate from South Africa's existing "prudent" macro-economic
policies,
despite his promises to create 500,000 jobs by the end of the year.
He also
insisted that government had no plans to undertake corporate
bailouts, but
pledged to help companies find financing from other sources. Zuma
also sought
to appease critics over his call to transform of the judiciary,
saying he
wanted to bring a more diverse group of judges to the bench but
would not
infringe on the court's independence. "When we speak about the pace
of
transformation in the judiciary, honorable members, it is not
because we want
to infringe on its independence, which we uphold and will always
defend', he
said. The President described the debate as being both instructive
and
encouraging, saying that it demonstrated that all parties were
earnest in
their commitment to South Africa and to harmonious relations amongst
its
people. Regardless of their differences as political parties, Zuma
said that
they all have a common goal, which is to make South Africa a great
country.


7. (SBU) Comment: Post notes that election campaign goals of the
ANC and
other leading opposition parties focused on concern for the same set
of issues
- poverty, education, health, crime, and development. The ANC,
however, ran
on the thesis that they would do better than the Mbeki government
did in
delivering essential services to all who need them. Regardless of
the goals
and resources on hand, the uncertainty of the international
financial crisis
will represent the primary constraint to any government action on
these
priorities. In this sense, the opposition parties have a good basis
for
skepticism regarding how campaign promises will be translated into
program
implementation; and that the emphasis on government as the source of
economic
stability and progress gives short shrift to the role of the private
sector.
The opposition call for detailed policies and implementation plans

CAPE TOWN 00000145 004 OF 004


though
reasonable, are unlikely to be fulfilled; primarily because there is
yet to
emerge a broad consensus within the ANC regarding specifically how
they plan
to grow the economy, generate sustainable jobs, reduce poverty,
provide anti-
retrovirals to those who need them, and precisely how the government
will
address the crime problem. Supporters of the ANC are satisfied with
the
electoral victory and care deeply about these priority areas of
policy.
Nevertheless, they do not expect quick solutions or clear policy
guidance on
these persistent problems in the near term.