Zuma has second chance to inspire confidence

The circus continued in parliament yesterday with MPs trading more personal insults.

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But the day ended on a positive note when Speaker Baleka Mbete apologised for calling EFF leader Julius Malema a cockroach.

Then Malema apologised to DA leader Helen Zille for calling her a cockroach.

With President Jacob Zuma due to answer questions from the National Assembly today, South Africans hope he will not join the circus but focus on the job at hand.

On Eskom and its inability to keep power on, Zuma will have to elaborate on the turnaround plan.

It is important that he reassures the nation that real work is being done to address the power crisis.

Though Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown told MPs yesterday said that the Medupi power station unit six turbine commissioning had reached a critical milestone, she was thin on details .

The question of our ailing economy and high unemployment numbers also demand a credible response from Zuma.

While it is important to update the nation on what is being done, we should be spared meaningless percentages that amount to nothing for the man on the street.

We expect the president to outline his vision on the economy.

After his State of the Nation speech last week was dismissed by opposition parties as weak and lacking in substance, Zuma needs to come up with something good.

It will be disappointing and will expose the president if he simply uses today's occasion to just score political points against the opposition that was so hard on him.

Today's occasion gives the president another opportunity to take the nation into his confidence and tell it how his government plans to run South Africa.

The chaos of last week's parliamentary session stole his limelight and the focus rightfully shifted to the brutality meted out to members of the EFF.

Now that the dust has settled, we expect to see the president lead from the front. We expect him to give pointers on what needs to be done to turn our fortunes around. We hope he will not join the circus and cast himself as a puppet today.

But we do not hold our breath.

Last week's events in parliament demanded that Zuma step forward to defend our constitution. His stewardship was in the spotlight.

Although the EFF had made clear its intentions months in advance, the collapse of proceedings and the eventual eviction and walkout by opposition MPs cannot be celebrated.

Instead of taking charge and leading from the front, the world saw Zuma giggling like a love-struck teen .

Problems facing this country are such that we expect the head of state, including his cabinet and the entire parliament, to stop engaging in petty party politics that further sink our confidence.

South Africa and our needs should always come first.