Mbeki deliveres his state of the nation address

By Tarryn Le Chat
09 February 2007

CAPE TOWN – As wet weather clouded the mother city this morning, parliament was crowded with ministers, delegates, justices and many others who waited on the arrival of South African President Thabo Mbeki to make his annual state of the nation address.

The state of the nation address focuses on what will be done this year to improve society and tackle various issues that communities face everyday.

In parliament, Mbeki’s speech highlights on social grants, crime alleviation, sanitation, housing, water and electricity and unemployment in the country. He spoke of what needs to be done in the country to eradicate poverty and bring the country on a whole to prosperity by standing together to fight crime.

Two other issues addressed were safety and security and HIV/Aids. Government has said it commits itself to intensify its campaign against HIV/Aids and to improve transport structure and make community safety a top priority.

“The challenge that we face in addressing this issue has little to do with policies”, said Mbeki.

After the speech, many opposition parties had varied opinions. Leader of the Democratic Alliance, Tony Leon, believes the president brought forth grass root issues and now need to be tackled head-on. “The president made good points in his speech. However, it is more idealistic and lacked coherent vision.”

Kenneth Meshoe, leader of the African Democratic Christian Party, said that the speech touched on various aspects, most importantly HIV/Aids which is an epidemic in South Africa. “Many South Africans are still without treatment”, said Meshoe.

The minister of health, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, believes that the president has now determined which aspects are top priority and it is now up to the cabinet ministers to elaborate further.

The state of the province address will be on 16 February. Western Cape Premier, Ebrahim Rasool, will address the province as to how crime and other issues will be tackled.