Mbeki+speech+a+failure,+now+people+must+decide,+Zille,+DA,+Politicsweb



//__Mbeki’s speech a failure – Zille __//

=The People Must Now Decide on the State of our Nation=


 * Helen Zille, South Africa Today, Politicsweb, 8 February 2008**

//DA will support a motion to dissolve the National Assembly//

Four days ago, I said that President Mbeki faced a "Damascus moment" in his State of the Nation address. I said that he faced a choice: He could either set South Africa on the path to a true constitutional democracy, or he could do nothing and allow the ANC to continue its assault on our Constitution.

It is clear from today's address that the President has made his choice. As has become his custom, he has failed to confront the realities facing our country head-on. Contrary to the stated theme of his speech, this was business as usual for the President. He gave the speech of a manager, not a leader. This is the same formula he has used since his first State of the Nation address in 1999.

But the country he spoke to today is very different from the one he first addressed nine years ago. We face an unprecedented attack on our Constitution by elements in the ruling party, and a long winter of economic recession ahead - caused not least by this government's failure to recognise a looming energy crisis.

Again, the President has laid the blame for the energy crisis on economic growth. This is a completely disingenuous argument. Our economy has grown an average 4% per year since 1998 when the government first knew about the imminent crisis. What would have happened if the government had managed to achieve its target of 6% growth?

Instead of firing the ministers responsible for the electricity crisis, the President said today that those who do not reduce their electricity consumption should be named and shamed. The obvious response is: Why has he not named and shamed Alec Erwin and Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka? Why are they still in the Cabinet?

The President today asked South Africans to put "all hands on deck" to solve the problem. This is not accountability, this is merely a cop-out. At the beginning of the week I called on the President to defend the independence of the media, the judiciary, the Scorpions and to open a judicial commission of inquiry into the arms deal. I said that he needed to do this to salvage his legacy.

Today, he did not deal with any of these substantive issues. The only one of these critical issues dealt with by the President was the future of the Scorpions. But instead of unequivocally defending the unit's right to exist independently of the South African Police Services, he has been deliberately vague about the unit's future. Given the fervour with which the ANC have vowed to dissolve the unit, the future of the Scorpions looks bleak.

It is now clear that President Mbeki is a lame duck. He has failed to lead, failed to inspire and failed to offer hope. He has made it clear that his government will not accept responsibility for the very real crises facing our country.

Some other parties have given notice that they will table a motion of no confidence in the President and Cabinet. This would simply allow Jacob Zuma to replace Thabo Mbeki as the President of South Africa.

Judging by the poor calibre and dubious backgrounds of senior members of the newly appointed ANC NEC (from which the Cabinet is traditionally drawn), such a motion would entail replacing a failed regime with one that will take our country further backwards.

It is time for real accountability, not the replacement of one morally bankrupt administration with another.

The Democratic Alliance will next week table a motion in Parliament to dissolve the National Assembly in order for a fresh election to be held. We believe that the people of South Africa should decide on which party, not just which faction of the ruling party, they want to lead them out of the crises we face.

Real accountability is when the people punish those in power for their poor performance by voting them out of office. We must now give South Africa the opportunity to do just that.


 * This article was published in South Africa Today, a weekly letter by the leader of the **[|Democratic Alliance]**, Friday February 8 2008


 * From: http://www.politicsweb.co.za/politicsweb/view/politicsweb/en/page71654?oid=86044&sn=Detail **

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