Zuma promises better delivery, accountability

President Jacob Zuma says all his ministers will soon sign detailed "delivery agreements" committing them to specific targets and deadlines.

In his second state of the nation address to the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces and with Nelson Mandela, 91, listening from the public gallery, Zuma said this would be part of what he called “a new way of doing things in government”.

The speech marked the 20th anniversary of Mandela’s release after 27 years in jail.

Guests were dressed to the nines for the unprecedented evening address, which was followed by a huge banquet at the Cape Town Convention Centre.

“Government must work faster, harder and smarter,” Zuma said. “The work of departments will be measured by outcomes developed through our performance monitoring and evaluation systems.”

A senior official said letters would be drafted soon setting specific targets for each individual minister, but he did not say what would happen to ministers who missed their targets.

Zuma said public servants also would be expected to up their game. “We require excellence and hard work. We need public servants who are dedicated, capable and who care for the needs of citizens,” he said.

Zuma listed a number of commitments ranging from literacy tests for school children to a a crackdown on lawlessness in Balfour, where police have been battling rioters for days, but gave few details.

An official who helped to draft the speech said there had been a deliberate decision to make the speech more accessible than former president Thabo Mbeki’s addresses used to be.

“We did not want to load the speech with too many numbers,” the official said.

Zuma made no reference to the major controversies dogging his administration. He did not comment on the ANC Youth League’s demand for the nationalisation of the country’s mines, he made no mention of the furore over his newest love child and he did not announce a pardon for Schabir Shaik or anyone else.

Instead, he focused on the achievements of his government since he became president last May and on plans to improve the delivery of essential services to the poor.

In one of the more detailed announcements, he said the government would set up a R1-billion guarantee fund to encourage banks to “accommodate people whose salaries are too high to get government subsidies, but who earn too little to qualify for a normal bank mortgage.”

He promised further action to reduce the cost of internet and mobile phone usage.

Zuma said the government would allocate 6000 hectares of “well-located public land” for low-income housing and promised to give 500 000 families ownership of serviced land by 2014.

Read full speech