Johannesburg — "VukUzenzele! Arise and Act! The Peoples Campaign!"
That is the new slogan of South Africas President Thabo Mbeki, who gave his state-of-the-nation address in Cape Town at the opening of Parliament on Friday. He talked about Aids, Zimbabwe, Africa, poverty and the economy. But the emphasis was on fighting poverty and overcoming the legacy of apartheid, he said. "The plight of the poor is at the top of our agenda. "
But his critics were disappointed by his views on the problems in neighbouring Zimbabwe and on HIV/Aids - the two political hot potatoes which political opponents say should be the top priority for South Africa.
Democracy dividend
Mbekis address was preceded by a colourful procession of MPs and dignitaries in the display of local and continental style and fashion, for both men and women, that has become legendary in South Africa.
Assessing the achievements of a democratic black leadership, since apartheid and the first non-racial elections in 1994, Mbeki listed clean piped water for seven million more people, electricity for three and a half million and the building of more than a million houses as concrete signs of progress and development.
"What I know and can say without any equivocation is that, during the past year, our country has, in real terms and within its means, moved further forward towards a society free of poverty and underdevelopment. But we are nowhere near liberating millions of our people from these scourges."
The eradication of poverty, reduction of crime, boosting of economic growth, creation of jobs, improving education and a better life for all were some of the priorities, said Mbeki, adding that his government would reduce taxes for low-income earners when the budget was read on February 20. Pensions and child support grants would increase by more than the inflation rate.
He promised to ensure that his governments programme to buy back land taken from black people under white rule would be orderly and lawful
The South African president said there would be no U-turn on economic policies in South Africa, nor any change to GEAR (the Growth, Employment and Redistribution programme), despite criticism and a 30 percent slide in the value of the rand.
Mbeki said the plummeting of the rand was not a response to systemic or structural weaknesses. "We will need to continue working with international financial institutions and developing countries to fashion a global financial architecture that cushions so-called emerging markets from occasional market irrationality," he said. He gave no other explanation for the currency's collapse.
'Cosmetic surgery'
But opposition MPs were angry at what they saw as a lost opportunity to move forward on the devastating problem of HIV/Aids in South Africa and on the volatile political situation in Zimbabwe, despite considerable domestic and international pressure.
Tony Leon, the leader of the main opposition Democratic Alliance, accused Mbeki of conducting policies "behind hidden hands and shuffled feet" and said he did not go far enough on crime, Aids, Zimbabwe or unemployment. There was no radical surgery, said Leon, only cosmetic surgery, adding that Mbeki did not tackle problems, but avoided them.
On Aids, Leon said Mbeki had lost a tremendous opportunity to speak out. Other South African political leaders, including Mangosuthu Buthelezi, the Home Affairs Minister in Mbekis coalition government, regretted that the president had not changed current government policy to curb the pandemic.
A quarter of all deaths in South Africa are reported to be Aids-related. After Mbekis speech, Buthelezi told journalists: "Aids is the biggest challenge, the major disaster facing this country and we would have wished for something more specific and far-reaching."
One in nine South Africans has tested positive for HIV, which South Africas Medical Research Council estimates will kill between five and seven million people by 2010 if there is not more direct government intervention.
Mbeki, who has been criticised in the past for his ambivalent stance on Aids, devoted a page to the syndrome in his hour-long speech, and renewed his governments commitment to a national Aids programme.
Many South Africans, led by a vocal anti-Aids lobby, were hoping the government would agree to provide all HIV-positive pregnant women with the drug Nevirapine, which is effective in stopping the transmission of the virus from mother to baby in around half the cases where it is prescribed.
So far Nevirapine is offered officially in only 18 pilot mother-to-child programmes sponsored by the state. The government is appealing against a High Court judgement last year ordering health authorities to begin a comprehensive mother-to-child transmission prevention programme countrywide.
But doctors in South Africa are reported to be prescribing the drug anyway, despite the governments policy of restricted access. Two provinces, the Western Cape and KwaZulu Natal, have defied government directives and introduced Nevirapine for pregnant women who are HIV-positive.
Mbeki indicated that the government would not back down on its position: "Continuing work will be done to monitor the efficacy of anti-retroviral interventions against mother-to-child transmission in the (pilot) sites already operational and any new ones that may be decided upon."
Activists are lobbying Mbeki to reverse the governments ban on use of anti-retroviral drugs within the public health system but the presidents response suggested they have had little success: "In addition to the many campaigns to change our lifestyles for healthier living, the focus of our programmes in the coming period will the improvement in quality of services in public health."
On Thursday, the former South African president, Nelson Mandela, delivered a stinging rebuke to Mbekis contested Aids policy. On the eve of the state-of-the-nation address, Mbekis predecessor said the debate over "some fundamental issues" about HIV-Aids "unfortunately continues to rage in manners that detract attention from what needs to be our core concern."
"However," continued Mandela, "I have reason to believe that insofar as this debate affects our country, its likely very soon we will solve the problem, and many people - especially in the government - are thinking very seriously about the observations that have been made in regard to the policy of the government."
Mbekis reply during his address was to say that, "The government, working in partnership with all sectors, particularly the South African National Aids Council (SANAC), will intensify its comprehensive programme against Aids, sexually transmitted diseases, tuberculosis and other communicable diseases."
He added that: "Any focus on one issue, at the expense of the others, may have the effect of undermining what we all seek to achieve."
Poll pledge
Turning his attention to his neighbours and Zimbabwe's upcoming presidential poll in March, Mbeki said he supported Zimbabweans in their expectation of free elections and pledged to ensure the poll was fair.
But he dismissed calls for South Africa to adopt a tougher stance and take stronger action against President Robert Mugabe.
"In pursuit of stability in our region, we will work tirelessly to support the people of Zimbabwe in their quest to hold free and fair elections in their country. It is in the interest of the people of Zimbabwe and, indeed, the whole region that the government that emerges from the March elections is legitimate and enjoys the support of the majority," is all Mbeki would say.
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Mbeki did not criticise Mugabe, whose re-election campaign has been denounced inside and outside Zimbabwe as thuggish and coercive. Mugabes controversial land redistribution programme, and the mass seizure of mainly white-owned farms by pro-government supporters, have been condemned as violent and repressive.
Mbeki confirmed that South Africa would be sending monitors to Zimbabwe to observe the election. "Clearly, the mission and the conditions that our teams seek to create are one, and one only; let the people of Zimbabwe speak through the ballot box," he told MPs, ministers, other senior officials and invited guests in parliament.
Leon described Mbekis words on Zimbabwe as "too little, too late". Leon said Mugabes "state-sponsored terror" had jeopardised the elections in Zimbabwe even before they happened and called the South African leaders approach to the troubles across the border, a "fundamental failure".
As one of the pioneers of the New Partnership for African Development (Nepad), and the 'renaissance' of the continent, Mbeki said South Africa would "continue to challenge a pessimism that expects Africa to fail in any of its endeavours, and the undeclared doctrine of collective punishment against all Africans that seems to come into effect when one or some among our leaders stumble."
Many interpreted this as a reference to Zimbabwe and Robert Mugabe, whose actions across the border have had a negative impact and affected perception of southern Africa, especially South Africa.
An honour guard of African civilians from all over the continent stood to attention as Mbeki and Mandela entered parliament. The president, in return, promised to continue helping to resolve the conflicts on the continent, including the regional wars in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola.
