Publication: Business Day
Issued:
Date: 2007-02-10
Reporter: Wyndham Hartley
A forthright Mbeki reaps both kudos and scorn from
parties, writes Wyndham Hartley
Brickbats and a few bouquets were the
order of the day for President Thabo Mbeki after a strangely subdued state of
the nation address: most political parties welcomed the president’s
acknowledgment of government failings in some areas, but slammed the lack of new
commitments to combat crime.
To the surprise of many, Mbeki responded to
public pressure, and spent more time on the issue of crime than was expected.
But it was largely a summary of that which was either planned or already on the
table.
There was only one paragraph on HIV/AIDS, and not a single mention of the arms deal.
Judith
February of the Institute for Democracy in SA (Idasa) said it was a good speech
that was more frank and less defensive than in the past. She said it attempted
to strike a balance between people’s daily realities and technical details. “He
was far more frank on crime than we expected, and his acknowledgment that
government did not have the monopoly on wisdom was
refreshing.”
Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon congratulated Mbeki for
his “candid frankness”, but expressed regret that the speech resembled a
“bureaucratic wish list of ideals and dreams which lacked a coherent vision”. He
said that after 13 years of African National Congress (ANC) rule, it was strange
that so much of the speech centred on things that still had to be
done.
“There were dozens of promises of action again today; hopefully we
can look forward to these promises being fulfilled,” Leon said, adding that he
was disappointed in the way in which Mbeki had dealt with crime.
“When
the country is crying out for empathy and passionate commitment to fighting
crime, he gives us bureaucratic lists of things to be done. While I believe
crime received more space in the address because of direct public pressure, it
remains to be seen whether the proposed steps and improvements announced will
yield positive results,” he said.
United Democratic Movement leader Bantu
Holomisa bewailed the fact that there was not a single word
on the arms deal corruption allegations. “He said nothing about the
latest revelations regarding the tens of millions of rands of bribes allegedly
paid to senior government officials that is being investigated in both Germany
and Britain. If these allegations are baseless *1, he should
have said so, but his silence just creates further doubt.”
*2
Independent Democrats (ID) leader Patricia de Lille similarly
had problems with the president’s silence on the arms deal: “He has also once
again missed out on an opportunity to give clear and decisive leadership on the
arms deal corruption that has caused so much damage to our credibility in the
international community. Mbeki needed to give a firm commitment that he would
assist the British and German authorities in their probes into our arms deal.”
She was also dissatisfied with the overall tone of the speech, saying
the ID had expected him to “show stronger and decisive leadership in dealing
with two of the biggest threats facing our democracy: crime and corruption”.
Inkatha Freedom Party leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi, who served in the
cabinet with Mbeki for 10 years, also called the speech a wish list but
commended the president’s honesty on what had not been achieved.
He said
there was a new “strand of honesty” in Mbeki’s report on the state of the nation
and pointed out that the president had never before conceded that the crime rate
had not come down enough.
Referring to the “to-do list”, Buthelezi said
that the speech could be judged only by the extent to which the president’s
promises were implemented.
Freedom Front Plus leader Pieter Mulder and
African Christian Democratic Party leader Kenneth Meshoe were Mbeki’s toughest
critics.
Mulder said Mbeki had treated crime as just another problem and
had failed to highlight the seriousness of the crisis. He said the president’s
speech was lacking in imagination, and was a repetition of existing
policy.
Meshoe said the speech consisted of generalities with very few
specifics on the issues of major concern to the country.
He did,
however, welcome the undertaking to improve the salaries of police officers
despite this appearing to be a repeat of information released in last year’s
budget documents.
The markets were largely unmoved by Mbeki’s speech,
with minor movements in equities indices and the rand-dollar exchange rate that
could not be attributed to anything in the speech.With acknowledgement to Wyndham
Hartley and Business
Day.
*1 These allegations are not
baseless. Thyssen has already admitted that the payments were made. The payments
also appear in Thyssen's financial statements as tax deductions. Thyssen merely
claims that the payments were not unlawful in Germany before 15 February 1999 -
except this is a stretch because although the payments were arranged in 1998,
they were paid in 2000.
In South Africa these payments are bribes
whichever way one looks at it.
The allegations have been made. There is
even hardcore evidence of money being paid from Thyssen to Merian Ltd and from
Merian Ltd to Chippy Shaik's friend and accountant, Ian Elvis Pierce. The DSO
knows about these payments - they've known about them for years.
The DSO
had better be investigating these bribes because that is its job - its
constitutional obligation.
[Tip for the DSO - also look very closely at
Comrade Joe - its all in the organogram.]
*2 His
silence is actually more of a confirmation.