Zuma is out of touch with reality – Afriforum

“It seems as if the President would like to apply radical intervention in all the wrong places, while areas that demand radical intervention are largely ignored,” says deputy CEO of Afriforum Ernst Roets.

The civil rights organisation described the State of the Nation speech as a series of agreeable promises, most of which cannot be realised, as there is a lack of understanding of the true scope of the issues with which the country is faced, and no practical steps for the realisation of these promises have been outlined.

Regarding the creation of employment, Zuma said, inter alia, that the agricultural sector will be expected to create a million employment opportunities.

“This is said, while no acknowledgement is given to the fact that the creators of employment on farms are being plagued by a wave of violence and, as a result, are forced to abandon the sector in growing numbers,” Roets adds.

Afriforum also voiced concerns about the fact that reference to the high levels of crime in the country was made in passing only, while it is one of the most serious problems affecting the country.

“Despite the repeated failures of the past two decades, the President is still of the opinion that it is the duty of government to create employment opportunities,” Roets says.

“Unemployment is, indeed, one of the country’s most serious crises, but to a large extent the root of the problem actually is to be found in state interference, and not in the lack of state regulation.

“Youth unemployment was identified as a priority, while Stats SA recently announced that levels of unemployment among the youth have reached an all-time high.

“Unemployment among young South Africans cannot be addressed sustainably if no intervention takes place in the dysfunctional Department of Basic Education.

“The undertaking that the number of matriculants with exemption will be increased to a quarter of a million cannot be achieved, unless education standards are lowered to an even greater extent.”

Roets concludes that no plan of action is provided for this target in the first place and, secondly, that the focus is on attaining numbers, instead of improving on the quality of the education provided. – @IschkeBoksburg