President Jacob Zuma has warned Freedom Front Plus Leader Pieter Mulder not to stimulate the emotions of the people of the country on the issue of land. Zuma was replying to the debate on his State of the Nation speech. Yesterday, during the debate, Mulder – who is also Deputy Minister of Agriculture – said black South Africans had no claim to 40% of South Africa’s land. Zuma’s called the comments ‘callous and careless’ and says the land reform question is very sensitive. “We therefore urge honorable Mulder to be very careful to this matter. It is extremely sentistive, and to the majority people in this country, it is a matter of life and death. That is why we have been very careful on this matter. I don’t think we should provoke emotions in this country. We shouldn’t, its wrong, it’s not good leadership, no matter what your continuency may think.”
Yesterday, during the debate, Mulder – who is also Deputy Minister of Agriculture – said black South Africans had no claim to 40% of South Africa’s land.
President Zuma also says government is currently developing plans to address identified gaps in the health system. Zuma says that in working to improve citizen care, South Africa wants to ensure that health professionals become caring and understanding and not make a visit to a hospital or clinic to be more traumatic than the ailment that takes a patient to these facilities. “We are progressing well in changing the way government works and improve efficiency to put citizens first,” added Zuma.
Zuma also that South Africa is the only country with a “programme” to fight corruption. Zuma says it is “important to emphasise that most of the corruption you read about in the media is exposed as a result of the work of government and its agencies.”
Amid laughter from opposition benches, he continued: “What we should remember is that South Africa is the only country that has a programme to fight corruption. It is not being fought anywhere else.” “And that is why you can not read about corruption in other countries. It is a reality. South Africa has a programme to fight corruption and it is fighting it,” he says.
“You must be saying ‘well done government’. We are one of the countries in the world that has a dedicated programme of fighting corruption,” adds Zuma. – Additional reporting Sapa
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