Wednesday June 3, 06:09 AM
SAfrica's Zuma addresses nation amid economic woes
By Fran Blandy
CAPE TOWN, (AFP) - President Jacob Zuma delivers his first state of the nation address Wednesday as a recession threatens to play havoc with election promises to create jobs and fight poverty.
In office for under a month, Zuma will have to cultivate optimism over the ruling ANC's goals to stamp out corruption, improve service delivery and focus on rural development, in an increasingly bleak economy.
But he will also have to deliver a reality check, dampening expectations over election promises made by his African National Congress (ANC). Analysts say he is likely to acknowledge it will be tough to fulfill these promises with the economy in recession.
"Government has warned fairly squarely that government can only do so much, they are heavily constrained by the global financial crisis," said independent political analyst Daniel Silke.
"I think we will see a reiteration of some of the central themes of Zuma's inauguration which touched on issues of service delivery and promoting a more inclusive South Africa."
The new president is also likely to repeat his admonition of laziness in the civil service while calling on South Africans to buckle down in the challenging economic times, Silke added.
The main opposition Democratic Alliance urged Zuma to implement a recovery plan for key industries.
"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," said Atholl Trollip, DA parliamentary leader.
Susan Booysens, an analyst at the Johannesburg's Witwatersrand University, said ANC government's job was "as challenging as you can get".
Zuma's speech comes a week after South Africa officially entered its first recession in 17 years as the economy contracted 6.4 percent in the first quarter, a figure which shocked economists.
The announcement brought with it further fears of job cuts, and interest rates were slashed another full point to 7.5 percent, although unions demanded they be cut even further to stimulate the economy.
Earlier this year, economists predicted that up to 250,000 jobs would be lost as the mining and automotive industries suffer.
"There has been the accumulation of problems. Ineffective, lack of capacity in the public sector, sub-optimal implementation (of policy) -- that comes in a period of global and South African crises in a time where South African citizens really have huge expectations," Booysens said.
Zuma was buoyed into the presidency on a wave of popular support for his promises to improve the lives of South Africans, many having grown impatient with abysmal service delivery in the 15 years since white-minority rule ended.
Trollip warned of "increasing threats to provincial and local government powers" as dissatisfaction mounted over lack of basic services.
The state of the nation address takes place in Cape Town, the legislative capital, and includes a mounted police escort, a fly-past by the South African Air Force and a 21-gun salute, while defence force members are to line Zuma's route.
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