'Constitution a unifier'

"President [Jacob] Zuma has said he needs enough votes so he can amend the Constitution. I can tell you he doesn't even know what he wants to change."

South Africa's Constitution unites the nation and should not be changed, Congress of the People leader Mosiuoa Lekota said on Wednesday.

Anyone who wanted to change the Constitution should be "examined", Lekota said at an election debate with other political party leaders in Johannesburg.

"President [Jacob] Zuma has said he needs enough votes so he can amend the Constitution. I can tell you he doesn't even know what he wants to change."

Shortly before former president Thabo Mbeki was removed from office by the African National Congress, a large part of the national debt had been eradicated.

"The national debt shot up again in less than five years, taking the country several steps back," Lekota said.

Democratic Alliance parliamentary leader Lindiwe Mazibuko said Zuma was indecisive and lacked political leadership.

At least 1.4 million more people were unemployed than in 2009 when Zuma took office.

"Zuma wouldn't take decisive decisions because that requires picking a side," she said.

"Although he has endorsed the National Development Plan this has shaken the tri-partite alliance to the core."

Introducing sweeping economic policies to eradicate unemployment and promote economic growth would be detrimental to his political survival, she said.

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