Cape Town — In an address to the nation on Friday, President Kgalema Motlanthe was harsh about failings in President Thabo Mbeki's administration and cautioned his successor "to tone down" promises given the global economic crisis.

He received a standing ovation - the Chamber erupting into cheers - when he entered the room to make his first and last state of the nation address on Friday morning.

Motlanthe candidly admitted to the poor health system, low graduate levels, crime and corruption but defended affirmative action.

In his address, built around the theme of "hope and resilience", Motlanthe reminded Parliament that his five-month stint at the helm of government was to complete Mbeki's term and not to set new policies.

He sent a strong signal to the new administration that will take over after the elections - most likely his party boss Jacob Zuma - to be realistic about what could be achieved, given the global economic slump. The ANC's manifesto has been criticised for being overly ambitious and expensive.

Assessing his predecessor's administration, he noted improvements in the public health service, but candidly admitted to its poor quality.

"Many health facilities do not always have the required medicines, appropriate staffing levels, and constant supply of basic services such as clean running water and electricity. In some of these facilities, management is poor and staff attitudes need improvement," he said.

He also decried the low number of graduates emerging from universities and the quality of teaching.

"Of course we do know that the drop-out rate particularly at secondary and tertiary levels is unacceptably high, and the education system has yet to produce the requisite kinds of skills needed by society. In addition, trends in performance, both in terms of teaching and learning, show a worrying persistence of the social divisions of the past.

"Ironically, precisely where education is most needed to help break the cycle of poverty, is where infrastructure, administrative and teacher capacity are least impressive," he said.

He did not mince his words on crime and corruption.

"The scourge of crime remains a major source of insecurity for South Africans. Daily experience, in poor and affluent neighbourhoods alike, is one of apprehension at the possibility of violent attack. Within public and private institutions, the possibility of nefarious schemes siphoning off resources through corruption is always a source of great concern." However, he noted that while the number of incidents of crime was dropping, violent robberies and crimes against women and children were not.

"This points to weaknesses in our neighbourhoods," he said, and "systemic weaknesses in the criminal justice system, from the investigation of crimes to the rehabilitation of offenders".

"It points to weaknesses in the efficiency of the court system, both in terms of technical and other infrastructure and management. These are the issues that the comprehensive revamp of the criminal justice system has started to address."

He said the "the land redistribution programme as well as post-settlement support could have been handled faster and better".

Turning to the shaky transition that led to the recall of Mbeki, his own election as President, a change in government and the economic crisis, Motlanthe said South Africa showed maturity and resilience.

"We should not underestimate the challenges we face. The global economic meltdown does pose serious dangers for our economy in terms of job losses and the quality of life of our people. Naturally, the uncertainties of a political transition can pose more questions than there are currently answers.

"As a consequence, some of us may be mesmerised by the transient waves of stormy weather and hunch our shoulders in the face of these headwinds of economic turbulence and political tumult," he said, reminding the nation that "ours is a journey of hope and resilience" and that "our democracy is healthy".

He however appealed to parties that their election campaigns should "be dignified and peaceful" and urged them to remain true to the constitution.

Motlanthe did not announce an elections date and is expected to do this on Tuesday.

Looking back at the last Mbeki term and the ANC's 15-year rule, Motlanthe said the administration improved governance and service delivery and that the public service now reflected the demography of the country.

He gloated about the government sustaining economic growth for the past four years, increasing employment, keeping inflation down, increasing fixed investment rate, expansion on infrastructure development and affirmed the success of Mbeki's Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative (Asgisa) project.

Motlanthe defended affirmative action, but said it had to be broadened to benefit more people.

"Sharing the benefits of growth should also include accelerated implementation of affirmative action, including Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment. This is not in pursuit of a so-called racial agenda. In reality, a country that does not ensure the involvement of all of its population at all levels of economic activity is certainly going to perform well below its actual potential.

"The fact that the private sector lags behind in changing the demographics of management and skilled occupations, in enterprise development and so on in part makes our country a laggard in the high growth stakes," he said.