Cape Town - With the government declaring 2011 a year of job creation, President Jacob Zuma on Thursday called for an "inclusive" economy in which the black majority, women, persons with disabilities and the youth participate fully and meaningfully.
He told MPs that government would find it difficult to achieve its set job target if the issue of transformation was not urgently addressed.
"No economy can grow as fast as it should, create jobs and be sustainable, if the majority of citizens are excluded," Zuma said during a reply to the State of the Nation Debate.
His address to the nation last week placed job creation at the forefront of government's action plan for 2011, with a focus on education, health, rural development and land reform as well as the fight against crime.
But on Thursday, the President was more frank, saying to achieve these goals, the country had to build "a strong mixed economy, where the state, private sector, cooperative and other forms of social ownership complement each other, to achieve shared and inclusive economic growth."
He highlighted last year's employment equity report, which indicated that 10 years after the introduction of the Employment Equity Act, white men continued to hold 63 percent of top management positions in the private sector.
The report found that African women were at less than three percent and colored and Indian women are at one percent each. "We clearly need to work harder to close the gap. We established the Black Economic Empowerment Advisory Council chaired by the President, which began operations last year ... we need to ensure that transformation does not fall by the wayside, as we forge ahead to build our economy and create much-needed jobs," Zuma said.
He re-affirmed that government will continue with its plan to pursue growth in six key sectors in line with the New Growth Path. These were infrastructure development, agriculture, mining and beneficiation, manufacturing, the green economy and tourism.
Zuma noted that central to the State's aims to provide decent jobs would be to ensure that more was done to stamp out corruption.
"Honourable Dreyer of the [Democratic Alliance] questioned the impact of our anti-corruption efforts and claimed, among other assertions, that the National Anti-Corruption Hotline was ineffective. That is incorrect. Several achievements have been scored with regards to the investigation of cases of alleged corruption reported on the National Anti-Corruption Hotline, which we have shared with this House before," Zuma said.
He said 235 officials were found guilty of misconduct since the establishment of the hotline. At least 35 officials were suspended, 120 given final written warnings, while eight were dismissed. A total of R100 million was recovered from the perpetrators.
"Against this backdrop, it is clear that the hotline has had positive spin-offs, not only in terms of monetary value but also in terms of disciplinary action taken against perpetrators."
Zuma also mentioned that measures will be undertaken to build a "performance-oriented" State, through improving planning as well as performance monitoring and evaluation.
"The Presidency will receive quarterly reports that we will use to monitor progress and intervene where there are bottlenecks, on job creation and other commitments made. I will meet cluster chairpersons periodically to discuss progress. Honourable Deputy President Motlanthe will assist me in this task."
He also said government was busy implementing programmes that aimed at giving support for new farming enterprises in rural areas, infrastructure in townships for local traders and service businesses, advice and access to finance for emerging entrepreneurs.
Officials from the Industrial Development Corporation were also busy assessing options for supporting investment in more labour-intensive industries, he added.
Turning on international issues, the President said South Africa will continue to provide support to the Sudan following the successful referendum in that country, which forms part of the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.
"We congratulate Former President Thabo Mbeki on the contribution he has made in the Sudan, under the auspices of the African Union. The intervention produced a unique African solution to a longstanding conflict."
South Africa has also taken the first steps to establish formal diplomatic relations between South Africa and Somalia. This is should be seen as a clear signal of Pretoria's commitment to political and diplomatic support to the Transitional Federal Government in Somalia.
Zuma wished both Egypt and Tunisia well with the transition in the two countries, adding that the events that are unfolding in North Africa should not impact negatively on Palestine and the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian question.
