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Different expectations on Zuma’s SONA address

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Opposition parties in parliament say they expect President Jacob Zuma to focus his State of the Nation Address on how the National Development Plan will be implemented, while ordinary South Africans are more concerned about crime, and bread and butter issues. All political parties in the National Assembly and the public in general have welcomed the NDP. The Development Plan gives a vision on what South Africa should achieved by 2030 in terms of socio-economic goals. This grand plan now seems to be uppermost in the minds of many law makers, as well as and the general public. The President is widely expected to construct his address around the key points of the National Development plan, unlike last year, when he focused more on massive infrastructure projects. Some of the important goals of the NDP’s main goals is to increase employment opportunities, and to elevate the quality of education.

Minister in the Presidency Trevor Manuel, who’s the chairperson of the National Planning Commission, said: “Without progress there is a really chance that South Africa could slide backwards. While dealing with immense challenges with overwhelmingly capacity to succeed. For this reason we must work faster and smarter to achieve the vision we all inspired to. It is possible and we are capable to achieve this vision and our history is the testimony to this.” But what do ordinary people on the street want to hear from the President? The Leader of the official opposition in parliament Lindiwe Mazibuko says she would like the president to come up with a clear message on how government envisions the implementation of the programme. “What I expect him to do even though it’s not what I want him to do. I expect him to come up with yet another set of piece that will include in his speech to distract people from all the failures of the past he has messed up. Like I said in the past we have heard a lot about promises of job creation in general and infrastructure development and none of those were made, I suspect that given that 2013 and 2014 are electioneering years, the president of showing leadership he will try to find another gimmick,” says Mazibuko. ACDP’s Steve Swarts and African People’s Congress Themba Godi are also concerned mainly about how the President will explain how they intend to put this plan in action. “The president needs to be candid and bring hope to the nation. He needs to put a path forward and that is what we are looking coward to as the ACDP. The conference of the ruling party adopted the national development plan and we need to see that being implemented as well. It is the vision of the future but we need to be brutal honest about the challenges the country is facing……..we do expect that issues of education, unemployment especial youth unemployment and if these are missing, we will believe as the ACDP it would not have live to up to up to the challenges of the day,” says Godi.

– By Abongwe Kobokana

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