The DA scorecard
Cape Town - 111027 - Lindiwe Mazibuko won the election to become the leader of the DA (Democratic Alliance) in the parliamentary caucus. She beat out Athol Trolllip to claim this victory. It was announced at a press conference in Parliament after a closed voting process. Photo: Mxolisi Madela Cape Town - 111027 - Lindiwe Mazibuko won the election to become the leader of the DA (Democratic Alliance) in the parliamentary caucus. She beat out Athol Trolllip to claim this victory. It was announced at a press conference in Parliament after a closed voting process. Photo: Mxolisi Madela
"F” is for fail, the mark the DA has given President Jacob Zuma for his performance this year.
Presenting her party’s annual cabinet report card for 2011 in Cape Town yesterday, DA parliamentary leader Lindiwe Mazibuko noted that Zuma’s cabinet “just missed an average score of D – or 50 percent”.
“There is clearly much work to be done. This applies particularly to President Jacob Zuma, who received an F.”
According to the largest opposition party, Zuma’s “preoccupation with maintaining power has diverted his attention from issues that are crippling SA, particularly poverty and unemployment”.
Mazibuko praised the president for the “reinvigorated sense of direction” he had shown at times this year. She said it was demonstrated primarily by announcing a high-level probe into the arms deal, axing two of his “worst-performing ministers” and suspending national police commissioner Bheki Cele. But she qualified the compliment by claiming that, instead of delivering the jobs he promised during his State of the Nation Address in February, his government “seems actively to be hindering efforts at job creation in order to appease political allegiances”.
Zuma was also panned for “attacking the constitution” by loading the Judicial Service Commission with “political appointees”, thus “politicising the one state institution which is meant to protect the courts”.
She also slammed some of the president’s appointment “blunders”. These included Zuma’s insistence on appointing Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng to the top judicial job above more experienced candidates; his appointment of advocate Menzi Simelane as head of the National Prosecuting Authority – a decision since rejected by the Supreme Court of Appeal; and the appointment of Zuma’s legal adviser, Willem Heath, to head the Special Investigating Unit.
Zuma is not alone in “underperforming”. He is joined by eight ministers who also received an “F”. Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe, who received a “D”, was praised for “taking a clear stance against the populist nationalisation call from within the ANC” but lost marks for the government’s ineffective anti-poverty programme.
The class of 2011 produced some top performers, including Science and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor, who topped the scores with an “A”, thanks largely thanks to her “dedicated lobbying for SA to host the prestigious Square Kilometre Array telescope”. - The Star