Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi says that over the two decades he has been in Parliament‚ he has watched the “meat” of the annual State of the Nation Address deteriorate to “fluff“.
The first speaker in a series of “alternate” State of the Nation addresses delivered at the Cape Town Press Club on Wednesday‚ Buthelezi said: “In my 22 years in Parliament‚ I have listened to the State of the Nation Address (Sona) become less and less meat and more and more fluff.
“It comes across now as little more than an exceptionally expensive public relations exercise for the ruling party.”
And‚ he said‚ he believed the chaos seen at last year’s opening of parliament was likely to be repeated this year.
“Unfortunately the EFF (Economic Freedom Fighters) has goaded the DA (Democratic Alliance) into playing a different game and we may well see one-upmanship delivering further chaos‚ if not at Sona‚ then certainly as we approach the 2016 elections.”
He said in a perfect world‚ he would like to see honesty in the speech.
“Honesty about the economy. Honesty about the mistakes government has made. Honesty about how long it will take and how little is being done to fix the problems that weak leadership has created.”
And he said President Jacob Zuma’s speeches promised and delivered little.
“There is far to much that the president doesn’t say during Sona‚ which needs to be said. But there are also things he says that by now have no meaning‚ like ‘we are taking enormous strides’‚ ‘we are hard at work’ and ‘we will deliver results soon’.
“The ANC (African National Congress) is known for making empty promises that are unsupported by any evidence or logical plan. How could the president announce‚ for instance‚ the imminent creation of 500000 jobs when the economy was about to lose a million jobs? Have the actuaries in the Presidency been replaced with fortune-cookies?” he scoffed.
Buthelezi said he had‚ over the years‚ offered advice to Zuma‚ whom he said did not take it to heart.
He said that in 2012 he had warned that race would become one of the country’s big issues.
“Sadly that has come to pass as the divisions between our various peoples are being highlighted more and more‚ not only by the Penny Sparrows in our midst‚ but by politicians with an agenda of revolution‚” he said.
And he disagreed with Zuma’s assessment which downplayed the race issues the country is currently facing.
“I disagree with the president that we are blowing this out of proportion and that there are only four or five racists in South Africa. But I also disagree with Mr (Julius) Malema who believes that all whites are racist.”
“The truth is that when we foisted cultural hegemony on a newly democratic country‚ to serve the image of a rainbow nation‚ we never actually healed the rifts‚ hurts and divisions of our people. We just papered over them‚” Buthelezi said. — TMG Digital/TMG Parliamentary Bureau
Buthelezi says presidential speeches are fluff
Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi says that over the two decades he has been in Parliament‚ he has watched the “meat” of the annual State of the Nation Address deteriorate to “fluff“.
The first speaker in a series of “alternate” State of the Nation addresses delivered at the Cape Town Press Club on Wednesday‚ Buthelezi said: “In my 22 years in Parliament‚ I have listened to the State of the Nation Address (Sona) become less and less meat and more and more fluff.
“It comes across now as little more than an exceptionally expensive public relations exercise for the ruling party.”
And‚ he said‚ he believed the chaos seen at last year’s opening of parliament was likely to be repeated this year.
“Unfortunately the EFF (Economic Freedom Fighters) has goaded the DA (Democratic Alliance) into playing a different game and we may well see one-upmanship delivering further chaos‚ if not at Sona‚ then certainly as we approach the 2016 elections.”
He said in a perfect world‚ he would like to see honesty in the speech.
“Honesty about the economy. Honesty about the mistakes government has made. Honesty about how long it will take and how little is being done to fix the problems that weak leadership has created.”
And he said President Jacob Zuma’s speeches promised and delivered little.
“There is far to much that the president doesn’t say during Sona‚ which needs to be said. But there are also things he says that by now have no meaning‚ like ‘we are taking enormous strides’‚ ‘we are hard at work’ and ‘we will deliver results soon’.
“The ANC (African National Congress) is known for making empty promises that are unsupported by any evidence or logical plan. How could the president announce‚ for instance‚ the imminent creation of 500000 jobs when the economy was about to lose a million jobs? Have the actuaries in the Presidency been replaced with fortune-cookies?” he scoffed.
Buthelezi said he had‚ over the years‚ offered advice to Zuma‚ whom he said did not take it to heart.
He said that in 2012 he had warned that race would become one of the country’s big issues.
“Sadly that has come to pass as the divisions between our various peoples are being highlighted more and more‚ not only by the Penny Sparrows in our midst‚ but by politicians with an agenda of revolution‚” he said.
And he disagreed with Zuma’s assessment which downplayed the race issues the country is currently facing.
“I disagree with the president that we are blowing this out of proportion and that there are only four or five racists in South Africa. But I also disagree with Mr (Julius) Malema who believes that all whites are racist.”
“The truth is that when we foisted cultural hegemony on a newly democratic country‚ to serve the image of a rainbow nation‚ we never actually healed the rifts‚ hurts and divisions of our people. We just papered over them‚” Buthelezi said. — TMG Digital/TMG Parliamentary Bureau
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