Government spokesman Jimmy Manyi yesterday launched a vitriolic attack on Nedbank chairman Reuel Khoza and his assertion that "our political leadership is degenerating".
Manyi hit back by saying that Khoza should highlight new possibilities and not "attempt to discredit the government".
Khoza said in his chairman's report after the bank's 2011 annual results that the government was "fast losing the checks and balances that are necessary to prevent a recurrence of the past".
Manyi said Khoza's statement "shows disingenuousness and that his books aren't exactly balanced".
"It would help if Dr Khoza were to tell us exactly which checks and balances are being lost so 'fast' and which recurrence of the past - and which past he fears so much," said Manyi.
He said Khoza must explain why he had called the country's leadership "putative" while the bank's management had a positive disposition towards it.
He said the government had increased employment by 365000 since the recession and had invested R8.4 billion in the economy .
"[South Africans in] more than 40% of households surveyed believe that the level of both violent and non-violent crime decreased in their area of residence from 2008 to 2010," said Manyi.
Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package. 