Zuma presidency hurt confidence, says Makhura
OUTGOING Gauteng Premier David Makhura has criticised former president Jacob Zuma’s presidency, saying it resulted in the decrease of confidence in the ANC-led administration in the province.
Makhura was speaking to Independent Media where he outlined what he would focus on during his State of the Province Address (Sopa) which he will deliver in Ekurhuleni today.
He said while his government had built strong partnerships with the private sector in the province, Zuma’s era created problems for his administration which had more pressure to create jobs than other provinces.
“The good thing is that because of the presidency of Cyril Ramaphosa, public confidence and business confidence in our government has increased. We were held back.
“Those things that happened at the national scale, including state capture, were a big concern for business even though they acknowledged that I was doing something at provincial level,” he said.
Makhura said while government had to play its part in improving the livelihood of citizens, it had to stop pretending that it can do everything for citizens. “We need a shift in how government serves the people and one of those things is that government must not pretend that people do not have energy to do things for themselves or that it can do everything for them.
“I am critical overall that we have created an impression that even when a child does not want to go to school, the government must sort that out rather than the parent. Whether consciously or not, we have created an impression that government must do everything.”
Makhura said his administration had achieved key milestones which he said he will sketch out in his last Sopa.
“One thing we said was that the townships have been forgotten for over 20 years as an economic space in the talk about transformation. There was no dedicated focus to revitalise and revive the economy. I think my administration has been exceptionally successful in boosting the township economy.”
He said his administration had created procurement opportunities for up to 5 000 township enterprises every year, with each department spending at least 30% on them.
Makhura said his speech will however not be limited to his term of office but on the track record of the ANC-led government since 1994.
“I will look at the specific things that we regard as key milestones in the evolution of Gauteng province. Gauteng province has a great deal of pressure, from infrastructure to schooling and the economy, because whatever number of jobs created here have to be more because of in-migration,” he said.
He said the Tshepo one million initiative, which is aimed at up-skilling and opening employment and entrepreneurial opportunities for the youth, will also form part of the Sopa, which will be themed, “Reigniting the spirit of the people of Gauteng”.
“In the speech there will be stories of how this programme has worked from young people themselves,” he said.