Cape Town – President Jacob Zuma has called on communities to play a role in the fight against crime, as police cannot do it alone.
He also said radical economic transformation was necessary to change the patterns of the ownership of the economy to favour the majority of all Africans, especially women.
He said this when he responded to the debate on the Presidency’s Budget Vote in the National Assembly on Thursday.
“The police can deal with crime and arrest perpetrators. However, society itself must play a role in fighting this wanton criminality and in preventing these crimes. We cannot make this the responsibility of the police alone.
“The serious crimes include violence against women, which [Members of Parliament] have strongly condemned.
“Honourable [Susan] Shabangu made a call to action to Members of Parliament to actively fight gender-based violence in their constituencies. Indeed, we all have a role to play in fighting this horrible crime,” he said.
The President made these remarks as the world celebrates International Children’s Day. He said it was on a day like this that government reflects on what is being done and what else should be done to protect, mould and provide space for children to grow into successful adults and citizens of the Republic.
“From 1994, as we were reminded by the Deputy Chief Whip [Dorries Dlakude], the democratic government has concentrated on making life better for our children, especially those from poor households.
“We started then with the provision of free health care for children from birth to six years.
“There is a host of other services provided for children in the country, from social grants to welfare services, free basic education to those who cannot pay, free meals at school and subsidised early childhood development centres for almost a million children.
National Development Plan
Meanwhile, President Zuma said government is implementing the National Development Plan (NDP).
Responding to arguments by IFP leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi that it appeared as if the plan, government’s blueprint vision for 2030, who asked whether the NDP was being implemented.
“We adopted the NDP in 2012 as the socio-economic development blueprint to provide a roadmap for further work that we need to do as we build a better South Africa.
“The NDP is definitely being implemented by all government departments… The goals and targets of the NDP have been integrated into government’s Medium Term Strategic Framework for the electoral period 2014 to 2019. Each government department has a programme of action that is derived from the NDP.
“We need to improve the manner in which we communicate the implementation of the programme of action and ensure that our communication clearly links the programmes to the NDP more explicitly,” he said.
Need to change the ownership patterns of the economy
The President said, meanwhile, that the ownership of the country’s economy remained in the hands of the few, which he said must change.
He said government needed to radically transform the economy to support the majority of all South Africans. Most South Africans were excluded from participating in the economy and they were unemployed.
In his State of the Nation Address in February, the President said only 10% of the top 100 on the JSE are owned by black South Africans, directly-achieved principally, through the black empowerment codes, according to the National Empowerment Fund.
He said with regards to management, the 17th Employment Equity Report released last month, once again pointed to the painfully slow pace of Transformation in the South African Labour Market.
He said 68.5% of the top management positions are occupied by whites group. Africans are at 14.4%; Indians 8.9%; coloureds 4.9% and foreign nationals 3.4%.
He said 58% of the positions in senior management are occupied by whites; Africans 22.1%; Indians 10.6%; coloured 7.7% and foreign nationals 1.4%.
“…Indeed, there can be no sustainability in any economy if the majority is excluded,” he said. – SAnew.gov.za
