ID President Patricia de Lille says that in his State of the Nation Address yesterday evening President Jacob Zuma ‘failed to reassure South Africans that the government is committed to addressing the major crises affecting our country.'

Jobs and the economy

‘For example, the Independent Democrats believes it is patronizing to enter into a semantic debate about what constitutes work when over a million South Africans lost their jobs last year,' Ms De Lille says.

‘The ID is not interested in spin when it comes to the economy. Instead, we want to hear detailed plans on how the government intends to restructure the economy so that it can be put on to a growth path that provides sustainable employment for the millions of unemployed South Africans.'

Public enterprises

De Lille says the President was ‘ominously silent on the issue of our failing public enterprises and he gave us absolutely no assurance that he would decisively intervene to halt their rot.

Corruption

‘We were also hoping he would announce some bold measures to combat the current situation where high-ranking ANC officials and even the ANC itself benefit from lucrative government tenders,' De Lille says.

‘In this the President has shown that he is not prepared to walk the talk when it comes to corruption.

‘He has also driven home the point that when it comes to cadres benefitting from Government tenders and the ruling party cashing in on increases in the price of electricity that hurt ordinary South Africans, the ANC simply doesn't give a damn and puts their benefit before the benefit of the people.

Education and wage subsidy

‘The ID does, however, welcome the emphasis that the President has placed on addressing the dire situation our youth find themselves in, particularly when it comes to our dismal education outcomes and the fact that the majority of our youth are unemployed.

‘The proposal of a wage subsidy for the youth was one of the ID's Top Ten Solutions in our Election Manifesto 2009 and it is heartening to see that the government has finally embraced the idea,' says De Lille.

‘On the education front the new proposals for testing at grades, 3, 6 and 9 are long overdue and we hope that the Government will also strengthen district administration to ensure that the promise of teaching for seven hours a day is strictly enforced.

Energy

‘Besides this, we also welcome the establishment of an inter-ministerial team on energy to formulate an integrated energy plan for the next 20 years, although since we have heard all of this before we cannot be blamed for being extremely skeptical about whether this will actually come to fruition.

‘We would like to request that the ANC's company Chancellor House buy shares in the solar industry so that we can now finally move towards a greener energy future,' De Lille says.

‘We have also heard this business of the introduction of independent power producers before, but we still have not created the policy environment needed to attract them into the market.

More action, less spin

‘The President says this will be a year of action - what we need is decisive action and decisive leadership and far less repetitive talk and spin,' says De Lille.

Statement issued by Independent Democrats leader, Patricia de Lille, February 12 2010

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