With arguably the toughest year in his political career behind him, President Thabo Mbeki is facing the nation for the first time since he was ejected from the top job in the ANC. Mbeki will use this opportunity to look back on successes that the government managed to secure, despite the ruptures in the ruling party threatening to spill over into the government.
But did he do enough last year to retain the faith of South Africans even if he lost it within the ANC?
The Mail & Guardian rates his work since the last State of the Nation address in 2007.
Jobs
Although an additional 200 000 to 300 000 jobs were created, they were not at the pace that will deal decisively with the severe employment shortage in South Africa. Economic growth for 2007 was 4,5%, still a long way off the goal of 6%.
Business
Doing business in South Africa remains more expensive than it should be, especially in the information technology sector. By government’s own admission, this has not changed in the way that Mbeki envisaged last year.
Crime
Last year the concern was whether Mbeki would speak on crime and give assurances that government is as worried about the issue as ordinary citizens. For once Mbeki bowed to pressure and not only admitted that crime was eating away at the freedom that South Africans should enjoy, but also vowed to have the security industry work with the police to meet the security expectations of citizens.
In 2007 legislation on the security industry was revisited and found to be lacking only in implementation.
Clear plans on how to address this and avoid another crippling and deadly strike are still not in place.
The crime rate dropped during the past year, but only in some categories were the targets of a 7% to 10% reduction reached. Other categories increased, including house robberies by 7% and business robberies, which skyrocketed by 29,3%.
Last year Mbeki emphasised the importance of revamping the justice system to try to deal with crime. Although a new crime plan was announced, which punted the possibility of a super department to deal with safety, the effect of this new strategy has not been felt yet by ordinary citizens.
Scorpions
The implementation of the recommendations by the Khampepe Commission — that the Scorpions be retained under the National Prosecuting Authority, but politically report to the minister of safety and security — was on Mbeki’s priority list last year.
This year he will have to explain to the nation why he believes the ANC is correct in disbanding the elite crime-fighting unit. Several opposition parties have voiced their dissatisfaction with the Scorpions being integrated into the police. Work towards implementing the Khampepe Commission’s recommendations has proved to be a waste of time and resources.
Housing
Mbeki set no targets last year for the delivery of houses, but 200 000 people received housing subsidies in 2007.
Municipalities
Some progress was made towards getting local government on the right track. The most important obstacle was the high number of vacancies in municipalities.
The vacancy rate decreased by almost one-fifth in the past year, from 27% to 22%, but the government remains concerned about the way in which vacancies influence service delivery. The vacancy rate is due mainly to the general skills shortage, the department of provincial and local government claims.
Toilets
Despite Mbeki’s firm promise that the bucket system would be something of the past by the end of 2007, there are still 46 887 buckets being used because of a lack of proper sanitation. In 2007 the department of water and forestry replaced 190 337 toilet buckets.
Zimbabwe
Mbeki deftly avoided the subject of Zimbabwe last year but, given his Southern African Development Community mandate to facilitate talks between Zanu-PF and the MDC, he will probably need to give feedback about the achievements of the talks. He will be expected to give an indication on whether he will, as before, support the election outcome, despite the insistence of the international community and opposition parties that an election under current conditions cannot be free and fair.
Telephone charges
Telephone charges that Mbeki promised would be addressed during 2007 remain unchanged and South Africans still pay too much for telephone calls.
Salaries
Mbeki also promised teachers and medical professionals better salaries and, although they had to go to the streets in the public service strike to ensure implementation, new salary structures are in place for teachers. This year doctors, other medical professionals and social workers will be targeted, as well as public servants in the justice cluster and correctional services.
The department of home affairs remains bogged down with institutional problems and Mbeki’s promise to make this ‘vital institution†function properly is unfulfilled.