Cape Town - Fierce arguments on government's employment targets, poverty alleviation and service delivery took centre stage as political parties debated President Jacob Zuma's State of the Nation Address in Parliament on Tuesday.
Zuma, who sat closely to his deputy Kgalema Motlanthe, silently took notes and smiled as opposition MPs accused of him of failing to fight corruption and tender irregularities in government departments.
The debate is expected to continue until Wednesday, with the President scheduled to reply on Thursday.
While the State of the Nation speech was widely accepted by opposition parties - especially the announcements on jobs - some raised concerns regarding the slow pace of service delivery and claims of corruption within government departments and state-owned entities.
Democratic Alliance Parliamentary leader Athol Trollip said while the party welcomed the ongoing probes by a team of investigators in several departments, it wanted those implicated in corruption to be brought to book "as matter of urgency."
"Mr President, we welcomed the commitment shown in stamping out corruption, but these are the promises we hear all the time. The people of South Africa want some concrete action ... they want something to be done now," said Trollip.
Zuma announced last week that a Special Anti-Corruption Unit has been established in the Department of Public Service and Administration to handle corruption-related disciplinary cases involving public servants.
"We have directed the Special Investigating Unit to probe alleged maladministration or corruption in various government departments, municipalities and institutions," he said.
About R44 million has been recovered from public servants who are illegally benefiting from housing subsidies, while the cleaning of the social grants system of fraud is also continuing.
Added Trollip: "Now is the time, Mr President. The nation needs leadership to stamp [out] this embedded corruption which is affecting many South Africans..."
Congress of the People leader Mosioua Lekota said government was not making enough efforts to provide the necessary skills through SETAs to help young people secure employment.
"How long will we have these young people leaving the country or joining the ranks of the unemployed due to lack of support... Will South Africa be always be technology emulators instead of us being technology innovators?" he asked.
The ANC welcomed Zuma's call that teachers must be at school, in class, on time, teaching for at least seven hours a day.
"For us, this is a demonstration that an ANC government will not tolerate laziness on the part of education and that time resources will be used effectively to ensure children learn," said party Chief Whip Mathole Motshekga.
Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande said he will be working with his Basic Education counterpart, Angie Motshekga, to ensure that school leaving young people were equipped with the necessary skills to secure employment in the event they do not enroll for higher education.
"We are going to use R8 billion in the SETA (Sector Education Training Authorities) system to ensure that money is directed towards ensuring training for young people... We want a situation in our country that every college graduate receives some placement of some sort and we can achieve that if we work together," Nzimande said
