ID’S EXPECTATIONS FOR THE STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS 2010
7 FEBRUARY 2010-ID President Patricia de Lille says when President Jacob Zuma delivers the State of the Nation Address on Thursday 11 February, ‘the Independent Democrats will be expecting him to be candid about the fact that 20 years after the release of Nelson Mandela, the majority of our people have still not been freed from the chains of poverty.
ID President Patricia de Lille says when President Jacob Zuma delivers
the State of the Nation Address on Thursday 11 February, ‘the
Independent Democrats will be expecting him to be candid about the fact
that 20 years after the release of Nelson Mandela, the majority of our
people have still not been freed from the chains of poverty.
‘We are still rated the most unequal society in the world, with the rich getting richer and the poor poorer,’ Ms De Lille says.
‘Over the years we have grown tired of the nostalgia and poetry that have peppered the speeches of Zuma and his predecessor. Our focus must now shift from how we won our freedom to what we are actually doing with it.
‘Almost 20 years after we attained our freedom, we need to assess how far we have come in achieving the values, vision and ideals we fought for during the struggle,’ says De Lille.
‘Government has supported some of our campaigns,’ says De Lille
The ID Leader says there has been ‘a very different tone from the Zuma administration, signalling the long-awaited end of the ‘denialist period’ of Thabo Mbeki.
‘This administration has identified and recognised the problems. They have also talked tough on serious issues like crime, corruption and service delivery, which we appreciate,’ De Lille says.
‘This also appears to be a more inclusive administration that has been more open to ideas from other parties. The ID has enjoyed support from Government with regards to our successful campaigns to criminalise price fixing and bring down mobile phone interconnect rates.’
Time to walk the talk
‘However, talk is not enough; we now have to walk the talk. We need leadership that can inspire South Africans by not just their words, but also their actions. We need leaders that are prepared to live their truth and not tell our people to do what they say, and not what they do,’ says De Lille.
Economic Freedom
‘We need to see proper policy proposals that can be debated, particularly in the arena of economic policy. It seems that the only debate we have been treated to with regards to economic development has been whether or not we should nationalise the Reserve Bank and the mines.
‘We should instead be having a debate over the million jobs lost last year and the fact that we still have not seen any concrete plans from government in terms of how we can reindustrialise our economy.
‘It is also time for the Ministers of National Planning and Economic Development to start doing their work by producing policy proposals that hold the promise of changing the structure of the economy and turning it around,’ says De Lille.
‘The policy and the debates must include the future growth path of our economy and how we can go about improving our international competitiveness and attract more foreign direct investment.
‘The Government also needs to invest more in infrastructure development that can create a crowding-in effect to grow the economy.
‘We attained our political freedom almost 20 years ago but we still have a long way to go in attaining economic freedom for our people,’ De Lille says.
State-owned enterprises, Chancellor House and Siphiwe Nyanda
‘We also need to hear from the President how we are going to deal decisively with our state-owned enterprises, too many of which have become political footballs used by a small political elite to enrich themselves.
‘We need clarity from the President as to how we are going to resolve conflicts of interest - we can no longer have a conflict of interest between the ruling party and government contracts, as in the Chancellor House and Siphiwe Nyanda debacles.
‘We need a concrete statement on how he is going to deal with members of his own Cabinet who hold shares in companies that benefit from government tenders. It is useless to talk tough on corruption and then allow the senior leadership of the ANC and Cabinet to profit in this way,’ says De Lille.
‘To quote US President Barak Obama – “what we are facing in this country right now is a deficit of trust.”’
Health
‘With regards to Health, the President must make a clear statement on whether the National Health Insurance Scheme will be implemented and if so, when?’
Education
‘Twenty years after the release of Nelson Mandela we need to change our education policy to produce the kinds of skills needed by our economy.’
President Zuma must put SA before his ‘own pleasure’
‘The honeymoon for President Zuma is over. He needs to provide decisive leadership that can lay the basis for 10 or 20 years to come.
‘For our country to succeed, we need the undivided attention of the President, who should do his job and be less preoccupied with his own pleasure,’ De Lille says.
For media enquiries, please call Steven Otter, the ID National Media Officer, on 084 233 3811
‘We are still rated the most unequal society in the world, with the rich getting richer and the poor poorer,’ Ms De Lille says.
‘Over the years we have grown tired of the nostalgia and poetry that have peppered the speeches of Zuma and his predecessor. Our focus must now shift from how we won our freedom to what we are actually doing with it.
‘Almost 20 years after we attained our freedom, we need to assess how far we have come in achieving the values, vision and ideals we fought for during the struggle,’ says De Lille.
‘Government has supported some of our campaigns,’ says De Lille
The ID Leader says there has been ‘a very different tone from the Zuma administration, signalling the long-awaited end of the ‘denialist period’ of Thabo Mbeki.
‘This administration has identified and recognised the problems. They have also talked tough on serious issues like crime, corruption and service delivery, which we appreciate,’ De Lille says.
‘This also appears to be a more inclusive administration that has been more open to ideas from other parties. The ID has enjoyed support from Government with regards to our successful campaigns to criminalise price fixing and bring down mobile phone interconnect rates.’
Time to walk the talk
‘However, talk is not enough; we now have to walk the talk. We need leadership that can inspire South Africans by not just their words, but also their actions. We need leaders that are prepared to live their truth and not tell our people to do what they say, and not what they do,’ says De Lille.
Economic Freedom
‘We need to see proper policy proposals that can be debated, particularly in the arena of economic policy. It seems that the only debate we have been treated to with regards to economic development has been whether or not we should nationalise the Reserve Bank and the mines.
‘We should instead be having a debate over the million jobs lost last year and the fact that we still have not seen any concrete plans from government in terms of how we can reindustrialise our economy.
‘It is also time for the Ministers of National Planning and Economic Development to start doing their work by producing policy proposals that hold the promise of changing the structure of the economy and turning it around,’ says De Lille.
‘The policy and the debates must include the future growth path of our economy and how we can go about improving our international competitiveness and attract more foreign direct investment.
‘The Government also needs to invest more in infrastructure development that can create a crowding-in effect to grow the economy.
‘We attained our political freedom almost 20 years ago but we still have a long way to go in attaining economic freedom for our people,’ De Lille says.
State-owned enterprises, Chancellor House and Siphiwe Nyanda
‘We also need to hear from the President how we are going to deal decisively with our state-owned enterprises, too many of which have become political footballs used by a small political elite to enrich themselves.
‘We need clarity from the President as to how we are going to resolve conflicts of interest - we can no longer have a conflict of interest between the ruling party and government contracts, as in the Chancellor House and Siphiwe Nyanda debacles.
‘We need a concrete statement on how he is going to deal with members of his own Cabinet who hold shares in companies that benefit from government tenders. It is useless to talk tough on corruption and then allow the senior leadership of the ANC and Cabinet to profit in this way,’ says De Lille.
‘To quote US President Barak Obama – “what we are facing in this country right now is a deficit of trust.”’
Health
‘With regards to Health, the President must make a clear statement on whether the National Health Insurance Scheme will be implemented and if so, when?’
Education
‘Twenty years after the release of Nelson Mandela we need to change our education policy to produce the kinds of skills needed by our economy.’
President Zuma must put SA before his ‘own pleasure’
‘The honeymoon for President Zuma is over. He needs to provide decisive leadership that can lay the basis for 10 or 20 years to come.
‘For our country to succeed, we need the undivided attention of the President, who should do his job and be less preoccupied with his own pleasure,’ De Lille says.
For media enquiries, please call Steven Otter, the ID National Media Officer, on 084 233 3811
