A critical look at Zuma's State of the Nation address

Jacob Zuma has consistently demonstrated an uncanny ability to be everything to everyone; saying all the right things at the right time. He seems to have the need to please everyone; something that would suggest a sense of disturbing insecurity about him. It is generally leaders who lack confidence in their capability who seek broad acclaim and affirmation from others.

His State of the Nation address did not deviate from this already established trend of submerging us under showers of empty promises and unrealistic commitments. The task of a leader is to inspire us all and give us hope amid these difficult times. However, the difficulty in doing so is to strike a balance between dispensing that hope and the temptation to raise the expectations of people to unimaginable heights. People do not remain eternally optimistic even when it becomes evident that there is a demonstrated betrayal of their hopes and dreams.

Zuma ascended to power under the false guise of being this caring leader and man of the poor. He made an endless stream of broken promises, which even at the time any person with a fraction of a brain could have known were unachievable given the current global financial turmoil and his track record. The ANC election manifesto was a long wish list that was far removed from reality and we may have forgiven Zuma and the ANC and excused that as only part of electioneering; once in government, there would be sober assessment of the state of the nation, tough choices made and communicated with the people.

The Zuma government has indeed indicated that it has prioritised a number of key aspects of the election manifesto; yet the manner of approaching the key priorities appear to be off the mark. Zuma continues to demonstrate an obsessive-compulsive populist behaviour even while in office as president of the republic. The constraints within which government operates would prevent a realist from continuing to make promises that cannot be achieved within the specified time-frames. The government is not cash flush. There is declining tax revenue and we face the spectre of a growing budget deficit and the future burden of servicing expensive debt. The economy is in recession. Companies are going through bankruptcy and liquidation and are shedding jobs at a much higher rate than any government official could wish to create additional ones.

The State of the Nation address does indeed outline where we want to be, but how do we get there? What we want to hear is how the government intends stabilising and reviving the economy. The Keynesian approach of increased government expenditure alone will not assist in bringing the economy to full employment. The extended public works programme is nothing new. This is a continuation of work already initiated during Mbeki’s term of office. The level of unemployment has continued to increase despite the limited success of this programme. It is shortsighted for government to see this as the magic bullet that will inject stimulus into the economy and create much-needed jobs.

US President Barack Obama came into office with a plan on what his administration would focus on. Already before his inauguration he had outlined what his economic recovery plan entailed and how it was to be executed.

Economic recovery is the bedrock upon which every intended government programme rests. The effects of the global financial crisis are felt more widely across the economy as a whole as the downturn in lending affects consumer spending, private investment etc and ultimately tax revenue. All other key priorities outlined by Zuma in his speech are futile if the economy is to continue on a downward trend and if government does not make a concerted effort to revive it.

The large majority of our people will continue to be subjected to endless misery and dehumanising conditions. The achievement of 10 key priorities of government as contained in the medium-term strategic framework will be compromised and we will suffer the same fate as other countries.

The Zuma government has no industrial policy action plan. What has Zuma and his men been doing since Polokwane. Why not formulate a plan that would allow for necessary and required interventions in various key sectors of the economy? Zuma claims the economic downturn should not cause government to change its plans with regard to the 10 key priority areas of the medium-term strategic framework; that instead the government should implement these with speed and determination. Exactly how is the government going to do this within the existing constraints? The president in this instance sounded delusional and far removed from the harsh realities we face as a nation. Determination to implement all these things is fruitless when the economy continues on a downward trend.

The ANC increased ministries with the intention to improve service delivery and execute government programmes; yet there has not been a clearly outlined plan of how all these new ministries are going to coordinate their programmes with the provincial structures to which they are not aligned. The financial consequence of this bloated bureaucracy has not been quantified. For a government with limited financial resources one would have expected that adequate planning would have been carried out beforehand to ensure smooth and seamless transition.

A measure of a good leader is the ability to make unpopular and tough choices. Our current economic environment demands the government assume an unpopular stance on matters of economic policy and government programmes in order that we may all emerge less scathed and bruised from this turmoil. If we are to make any progress towards prosperity we cannot do so when the president attempts to please trade unionists and his sycophants in the SACP at every turn. The challenge of reviving the economy and addressing its structural problems, of ensuring that jobs are created, that banks are lending, that government officials are performing cannot be overcome by making flowery speeches which lack substance. We need specifics!

South Africa does not exist as an island to the troubles of the region. Zuma has side-stepped the important issue of also dealing with the political and economic recovery of Zimbabwe. The government cannot pretend the situation in Zimbabwe will not continue to have a negative consequence on our country. It is a problem that none of us can simply wish away and not address.

This was not a problem of the Mbeki government alone. The Zuma government should provide leadership in finding a permanent and sustainable solution for Zimbabwe in order to minimise the impact on our depressed economy. Failure to address this problem — as it appears there is a reluctance from the Zuma government to deal with this — and the habit of unrealistically raising poor and unemployed people’s expectations, will only lead us on the path to the vicious xenophobic attacks that embarrassed us all in 2008. This obsession of making empty promises only serves to foment tensions in poor communities and may lead to anarchy.

We cannot risk the future prosperity of our country and continent in the interest of promoting economic populism. This is not the time for leaders to attempt to exaggerate their reputation through populist rhetoric. Give us substance Mr President.