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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 CAPE TOWN 000145 
 
AF/S FOR RMARBURG AND MJAMES 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KDEM SF
SUBJECT: STATE OF THE NATION DEBATE 
 
¶1. (U) The State of the Nation Debate was concluded in Parliament on 
June 9, 
2009 with President Zuma responding to the issues raised by the 
various 
opposition parties regarding his address last week.  In his earlier 
State of 
the Nation Address Zuma placed emphasis on poverty alleviation, 
improved 
education, healthcare, employment and South Africa's response to the 
global 
economic crisis.  He also promised to hold Cabinet ministers 
accountable 
through established targets and output measures and promised to move 
towards a 
more interactive government, with the Presidency taking the lead. 
The debate, 
which was opened by Zuma on June 4, 2009, offers the opposition the 
once 
annual opportunity to take issue with the President and his proposed 
policies 
and to hear his response. 
 
¶2. (U) The official opposition, the Democratic Alliance, stated that 
although 
the President's address was positive and acknowledged that South 
Africans 
needed to be optimistic in these difficult economic times, they also 
need to 
be realistic about the economic facts.  DA spokesman Ryan Coetzee 
said that 
Zuma's speech made it clear "that the government and the DA have 
significantly 
different views on how best to approach economic policy in the years 
ahead." 
He said that the state was at the centre of the government's 
strategy with the 
promise of increased social spending, the effect of which will be to 
drive up 
costs for the taxpayer at a time when few could afford the increased 
 
expenditure.  Parliamentary leader, Athol Trollip, said Zuma's words 
must 
translate into action, and questioned how Zuma could promise action 
against 
corruption and appoint MPs implicated in the Travelgate scandal. 
(Note:  A 
number of travel agencies and parliamentarians are under 
investigation for 
their alleged abuse of parliamentary travel vouchers. End Note)  He 
was also 
critical of the proposed National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme, as 
the DA 
felt that it was important to first "get the basics right" and 
appoint 
competent managers at all levels of the healthcare system.  He 
expressed 
concern that there has been no formal public participation or 
scrutiny with 
regards to the NHI. He stated that "a policy of such significant 
public 
importance demands extensive consultation. It is also of great 
concern that 
while doctors are not being paid we do not know how much all these 
extra 
layers of bureaucracy are going to cost us".  The DA called upon the 
 
government to provide a costing report for the proposed NHI and for 
the 
current crisis regarding the working conditions and salaries of 
doctors to be 
resolved.  DA spokesperson for crime and justice, Dianne 
Kohler-Barnard, 
criticized Zuma's address saying it was vague on curbing crime and 
questioned 
how renaming a department would "contribute to the reduction of 
serious and 
violent crimes".  She said the government lacked a clear strategy 
for dealing 
with crime and called upon Zuma to provide leadership and a clear 
path 
forward.  Trollip concluded the DA's debate by commending Zuma for 
admitting 
"grave challenges when it comes to issues like HIV/Aids and our 
skills 
deficit."  He said that in doing so Zuma had distinguished himself 
from Mbeki, 
who often denied the extent or threat posed by the HIV/Aids crises. 
 
 
CAPE TOWN 00000145  002 OF 004 
 
 
¶3. (U) Parliament's number two opposition party, the Congress of the 
People 
(COPE), called on Zuma to spell out in more detail his plans to 
tackle the 
economic recession.  Party leader Mvume Dandala said Zuma's address 
raised 
questions that "yearn for answers", and said South Africans have 
been left 
guessing how the government will deal with the recession.  Dandala 
said Zuma 
needs to set out a program that will seek to inspire confidence 
among ordinary 
people as well as provide clear guidelines on how South Africa will 
weather 
the storm.  "We would like to hear more about the government's 
practical 
intervention plans as a response to this recession.  A clear 
statement in this 
regard needs to be made.  The investor community cannot be left 
guessing," he 
said.  He described the speech as a "wish list" and said that the 
President 
had not given a clear indication of how he planned to deliver on the 
promises 
the ANC had made during the election campaign.  "This is not the 
time to ask 
people what they want," he said, "you have to deliver."   COPE MP 
Hilda Ndude 
called on Zuma to stamp out the "hooliganism" within the majority 
party and 
said COPE would "hold the President responsible" for ensuring that 
the 
Constitution was upheld at all times and that everyone acted 
accordingly.  She 
said that COPE demands that government delivers on its promise to 
deal with 
crime efficiently and effectively and called for immediate action 
and results. 
She praised the President for his call to all South Africans to join 
in the 
fight against crime, but said she was concerned about a lack of 
clear strategy 
in this regard. She was heckled by ANC MPs during the debate when 
she said 
Parliament should never again allow a president to be removed from 
office as 
former president Thabo Mbeki was last year. 
 
¶4. (U) The President of the Inkatha Freedom Party, Prince Mangosuthu 
 
Buthelezi, welcomed the 'broad thrust" of President Zuma's state of 
the nation 
address, although "in language and tone it seemed to indicate a 
perceptible 
shift to the left."  Buthelezi focused on the economic crisis and 
called for 
the rand to be devalued immediately, predicting that the economic 
crisis would 
get worse.  He said that having a strong Rand is "nothing but 
ill-conceived 
national pride."  He noted that the South African economy is not 
reliant on 
imports and the country produced enough to ensure that the 
devaluation of the 
Rand would not necessarily affect the flow of goods and services 
consumed by 
the lower and middle classes.   Buthelezi concluded by saying that 
Zuma's 
address was "an expression of intent", rather than a detailed 
program of 
action.  He said Zuma had made many pledges that would need to be 
carefully 
monitored and evaluated.  Buthelezi, however, praised the 
government's 
intention to uplift the poor and supported plans to extend the 
Expanded Public 
Works Program which the government intends to use to help create 
thousands of 
jobs. 
 
¶5. (U) Other opposition parties participated in the debate.  The 
Independent 
Democrats leader Patricia De Lille said that although the list of 
goals and 
priorities identified by the President are laudable, South Africans 
have heard 
some of them before and the key issue will be implementation.  She 
said that 
 
CAPE TOWN 00000145  003 OF 004 
 
 
without implementation and monitoring the best plans will come to 
nothing and 
she demanded that the President provide details about how the new 
National 
Planning Commission housed in the Presidency will work.  She praised 
the 
President on his announcement that there is going to be monitoring 
and 
evaluation of the performance of Ministers and called upon him to 
fire 
incompetent Ministers. Bantu Holomisa of the United Democratic 
Movement asked 
Zuma to convene a round table meeting of all political parties to 
debate 
critical issues and find local solutions for the impact of the 
economic 
crises.  The Freedom Front Plus welcomed Zuma's proposals to reduce 
red-tape 
for small business enterprises and to make it easier to do business 
in South 
Africa but demanded that South Africa have a professional 
non-political public 
service where "competence and nothing else determines one's position 
and 
promotion". 
 
¶6. (U) In his reply to the State of the Nation debate Zuma said that 
he would 
not abandon the existing economic policies that have guided South 
Africa the 
last 17 years.  He shared opposition parties concern over the 
current economic 
climate saying "'we agree with a number of speakers about the 
seriousness of 
the global economic crisis".  He reassured Parliament that he would 
not 
deviate from South Africa's existing "prudent" macro-economic 
policies, 
despite his promises to create 500,000 jobs by the end of the year. 
He also 
insisted that government had no plans to undertake corporate 
bailouts, but 
pledged to help companies find financing from other sources. Zuma 
also sought 
to appease critics over his call to transform of the judiciary, 
saying he 
wanted to bring a more diverse group of judges to the bench but 
would not 
infringe on the court's independence.  "When we speak about the pace 
of 
transformation in the judiciary, honorable members, it is not 
because we want 
to infringe on its independence, which we uphold and will always 
defend', he 
said.  The President described the debate as being both instructive 
and 
encouraging, saying that it demonstrated that all parties were 
earnest in 
their commitment to South Africa and to harmonious relations amongst 
its 
people.  Regardless of their differences as political parties, Zuma 
said that 
they all have a common goal, which is to make South Africa a great 
country. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Comment:  Post notes that election campaign goals of the 
ANC and 
other leading opposition parties focused on concern for the same set 
of issues 
- poverty, education, health, crime, and development.  The ANC, 
however, ran 
on the thesis that they would do better than the Mbeki government 
did in 
delivering essential services to all who need them.  Regardless of 
the goals 
and resources on hand, the uncertainty of the international 
financial crisis 
will represent the primary constraint to any government action on 
these 
priorities.  In this sense, the opposition parties have a good basis 
for 
skepticism regarding how campaign promises will be translated into 
program 
implementation; and that the emphasis on government as the source of 
economic 
stability and progress gives short shrift to the role of the private 
sector. 
The opposition call for detailed policies and implementation plans 
 
CAPE TOWN 00000145  004 OF 004 
 
 
though 
reasonable, are unlikely to be fulfilled; primarily because there is 
yet to 
emerge a broad consensus within the ANC regarding specifically how 
they plan 
to grow the economy, generate sustainable jobs, reduce poverty, 
provide anti- 
retrovirals to those who need them, and precisely how the government 
will 
address the crime problem.  Supporters of the ANC are satisfied with 
the 
electoral victory and care deeply about these priority areas of 
policy. 
Nevertheless, they do not expect quick solutions or clear policy 
guidance on 
these persistent problems in the near term.