The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Tuesday urged President Jacob Zuma to encourage viable industrial activity to create jobs as a way out of the country’s economic recession.
”South Africa is now in a full-blown recession; we must create jobs to pull us out of it. Not artificial, government-driven jobs in public works programmes, but real, sustainable jobs in industries that work,” the party’s parliamentary leader, Athol Trollip, said.
”Therefore, we need a resuscitation plan which is based on industries that are able to grow and prosper in the new economic climate, not that are promoted by the self-interest of unions.”
A day ahead of Zuma’s maiden State of the Nation address, he warned the president to resist the urge to centralise power in a bid to improve service delivery.
Instead, Trollip said, he hoped Zuma would rethink a draft Bill adopted by Cabinet on the eve of the April elections, which would give Pretoria greater power to intervene in the provinces.
”We are seeing increasing threats to provincial and local government powers and increasingly convoluted and interventionist rules regulating government administration.
”We hope to see the announcement that laws such as the Single Public Service Bill and the Constitution 17th Amendment Bill will be reconsidered.”
The DA said it also wanted Zuma to signal clearly that he intends respecting the independence of the judiciary and plans to improve the education system.
”The DA is looking for a statement in this speech confirming the importance of judicial independence and committing this government to erasing any political influence over judges’ decisions.”
Trollip said Zuma should use his speech to Parliament on Wednesday to break with the Mbeki era, which was ”marked by inefficiency, poor customer service, a lack of accountability and hostility towards the constitutional ideals of transparency and openness”.
”Jacob Zuma has a real chance to turn this around,” he added.
The Federation of Unions of South Africa (Fedusa) also called on Zuma to focus strongly on the recession, deal with the ”critical issue of job losses” and root out corruption.
Analysts have said that to rally the nation behind him, Zuma must use his opening address to Parliament to speak firmly on the country’s first recession in 17 years and tackle the issue of job losses. — Sapa