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DE RUEHTN #0138/01 1550618
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P 040618Z JUN 09 ZDK
FM AMCONSUL CAPE TOWN
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INFO RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA 6426
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RUEHJO/AMCONSUL JOHANNESBURG 2147
RUEHDU/AMCONSUL DURBAN 3291

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CAPE TOWN 000138 
 
AF/S  FOR RMARBURG AND MJAMES 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KDEM SF
SUBJECT: ZUMA DELIVERS STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS 
 
¶1. (U) On June 3, Charge and Cape Town Poloff attended President 
Jacob Zuma's first State of the Nation address to Parliament. Zuma's 
theme for the Address was "Parliament entrenching people-centered 
democracy in achieving development goals."  The event, attended by 
former Presidents Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki, is one of the few 
occasions when the Executive, Judiciary and Legislative branches of 
government come together in one place. Speaking in all the official 
languages of the country, Zuma outlined the government's five-year 
plan aimed at developing South Africa's economy and highlighted the 
major challenges affecting his administration, including crime, the 
widening inequality gap, blockages in the criminal justice system, 
unemployment and poverty, quality of education, and the global 
economic crisis. 
¶2. (U) Zuma defined ten priority areas in the Medium Term Strategic 
Framework that the government would focus on for 2009, but 
reiterated that the fight against poverty remained the cornerstone 
of government's focus.  As expected the global economic crises and 
its impact on the South African economy featured prominently in his 
speech. He said creating employment would be at the centre of 
economic policies and would influence the types of investment to 
attract and job-creation initiatives. Zuma added that South Africa 
aims to develop a "scaled-up" industrial plan that will focus on 
manufacturing, services, and construction to help create 
"worthwhile" jobs. He said that government hoped to create a more 
"inclusive economy" by developing rural areas, while also ensuring 
that programs run by the Department of Public Works create 500,000 
jobs by December 2009. He, however, warned that progress would be 
hampered by the global economic crises and said, "the economic 
downturn will affect the pace at which our country is able to 
address the social and economic challenges it faces, but it will not 
alter the direction of our development."  (Comment: Zuma's speech 
comes a week after South Africa officially entered its first 
recession in since 2000 as the economy contracted 6.4 per cent in 
the first quarter of 2009 following negative growth in the fourth 
quarter of 2008. The announcement brought with it further fears of 
job cuts, and interest rates were slashed another full point to 7.5 
per cent, although unions demanded they be cut even further to 
stimulate the economy. Trade unions, which were instrumental in 
securing the re-election of the ANC, have placed increased pressure 
on Zuma to address their demands in his speech, however, given the 
bleak economic climate, the President had little room for maneuver. 
(Septel)  Zuma's balancing act between pleasing workers, unions and 
investors is likely to become more complicated and difficult as he 
tries to deliver on promises the ANC has been making since coming to 
power. It is quite possible that Zuma could face a backlash from the 
Unions in the future if his policies do not approach their 
interests. End Comment) 
¶3. (U) Zuma stressed education as one of the priorities of the 
government over the next five years. He said the government planned 
to expand the Early Childhood Development Program with the aim of 
ensuring universal access to Grade R (pre-school) and doubling the 
number of 0-4 year-old children by 2014, while it hoped to increase 
enrolment rates in secondary schools to 95% over the same period. He 
said to improve school management, formal training will be a 
precondition for promoting teachers to become principals or heads of 
Qprecondition for promoting teachers to become principals or heads of 
department. Zuma stated that to promote lifelong learning, the Adult 
Basic Education and Training program will be intensified. He said, 
"we have to ensure that training and skills development initiatives 
in the country respond to the requirements of the economy." 
¶4. (U) Zuma continued by acknowledging the failures in the 
healthcare system and said, "we are seriously concerned about the 
deterioration of the quality of health care, aggravated by the 
steady increase in the burden of disease in the past decade and a 
half."  Zuma pledged to reduce the inequalities in health care 
provisions, to boost human resources capacity, revitalize hospitals 
and clinics, and intensify the fight against HIV/AIDS and TB. He 
stated that the government would work to improve the implementation 
of the Comprehensive Plan for the Treatment, Management and Care of 
HIV and AIDS so as to reduce the rate of new HIV infections by 50% 
by the year 2011.  He added that the aim was also to reach 80% of 
those in need of ARV treatment by 2011. Zuma also revealed his plan 
to roll out a National Health Insurance scheme which will require 
the urgent rehabilitation of public hospitals. 
¶5. (U) Zuma called on all South Africans to fight crime together. He 
said transforming the judiciary would address key issues such as 
enhancing judicial independence, entrenching internal systems of 
judicial accountability, as well as ensuring full access to justice 
by all. He stressed it was also critically important to improve the 
efficiency of the courts and the performance of prosecutors, 
detectives, forensic and intelligence services. Zuma said there was 
a need to increase law enforcement personnel in all sectors of the 
justice system, especially the number of prosecutors and Legal Aid 
Board personnel and police detectives. He discussed the renaming of 
the Ministry of Safety and Security and said the name change was to 
emphasize that South Africa wants real operational energy in police 
work. He added that the key focus will be combating organized crime, 
as well as crimes against women and children and set a goal of 
reducing serious and violent crimes by 7% to 10% per annum. Zuma 
 
CAPE TOWN 00000138  002 OF 002 
 
 
highlighted other initiatives on which the government will focus, 
such as a Border Management Agency, intensifying efforts against 
cyber crime and identity theft, and improving systems in jails to 
reduce repeat offending. He added that the government will pay 
particular attention to combating corruption and fraud in the public 
sector. 
¶6. (U) In the field of international relations Zuma said the main 
goal of the of the South African government is to ensure that its 
foreign relations contribute to the creation of an environment 
conducive to sustainable economic growth and development. Zuma said 
government would continue to prioritize the African continent by 
strengthening the African Union and its structures, and give special 
focus to the implementation of the New Partnership for Africa's 
Development (NEPAD). Zuma said South Africa remained committed to 
peacekeeping efforts on the African continent, especially the 
Saharawi Arab Republic and Darfur in the Sudan and he reiterated 
that South Africa will continue to encourage a peaceful and 
sustainable settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on 
the two-state solution. He highlighted the plight of the Zimbabwean 
people and stated that South Africa will participate in promoting 
inclusive government until free and fair elections are held in 
Zimbabwe.  Zuma also noted that it is imperative for all 
peace-loving countries in the world to support the inclusive 
Zimbabwean government to achieve economic recovery. 
¶7. (U) Zuma reaffirmed South Africa's readiness for hosting the 2010 
FIFA World Cup and gave assurances that South Africa was on schedule 
to meet all its obligations. He paid homage to President Mandela and 
declared that July 18 (Mandela's birthday) would henceforth be known 
as Mandela Day. He also gave his commitment to work with opposition 
parties in Parliament and urged all South Africans to continue 
working for reconciliation and unity. 
¶8. (U) Opposition parties welcomed the objectives put forward by 
government but were all critical of the fact that President Zuma 
failed to outline how his policies would be implemented. Democratic 
Alliance parliamentary leader, Athol Trollip, said Zuma's speech 
marked a very particular and distinct ideological shift towards a 
socialist agenda, while Independent Democrat Patricia De Lille said 
'the goals President Jacob Zuma has set for Government for the next 
five years are laudable, but we have heard them all before."  Cope's 
Bishop Dandala said the speech was "hot on promises but thin on 
detail." Although failing to outline the finer details of his 
policies, Zuma's speech is seen as unifying and designed to appeal 
to all South Africans. It would appear that Zuma has been granted a 
reprieve and honeymoon, for now. However, should he fail to deliver 
on the goals and promises outlined in his speech, his government 
could face a far tougher resistance from the public and the trade 
unions in the future.