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Zuma talks money
12/01/2008 14:08 - (SA)
Pretoria - Jacob Zuma used his first keynote speech as leader of the African National Congress on Saturday to rebuke President Thabo Mbeki's failure to narrow the wealth gap while saying he would not undermine his rival.
In an address to ANC members in Atteridgeville to mark the party's 96th birthday, Zuma acknowledged Mbeki had presided over an uninterrupted period of growth but said "serious challenges of unemployment, poverty and inequality remain" to be tackled.
Zuma, frontrunner to succeed Mbeki as head of state in 2009 despite the prospect of a corruption trial in August, said measures were needed to ensure the poorest members of society were not left behind and spoke of plans to make medicine more affordable and improve education. Gap between rich and
poor widened
After praising the government for bringing about a "significant reduction in level of severe poverty and improvement in quality of life for millions of our people", Zuma said the gap between rich and poor had in fact widened.
"The rate of income increase has not matched that of the better off, so income inequality has increased," said Zuma.
In a sign that a Zuma-led administration would see a major increase in public spending, he signalled his desire for more government intervention to lower unemployment which is estimated to be running at nearly 40%.
"We must work together to create decent work opportunities as the primary focus of our economy so that we can further absorb the unemployed by promoting labour-intensive production methods and procurement policies through significant expansion of the public works programme," said Zuma. Two centres of power
The speech had been billed as an opportunity to heal some of the divisions between Mbeki and Zuma's camp after last month's election contest.
The spectre of two centres of power has prompted fears that South Africa is about to enter a lengthy period of political turbulence, but Zuma said he would strive to ensure that relations between the party and government were smooth.
"We are aware of the responsibility of assuring a smooth working relations and we cannot fail the nation in this regard," he said.
But while he said he would not allow ANC members outside of government to undermine Mbeki's administration, he also said that it was two-way process.
"ANC members outside of government will not be allowed to undermine the government. "Equally those deployed in government cannot undermine those working in the ANC."
- AFP
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