Zuma ignores Nene questions at #SONA16

Published Feb 11, 2016

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Parliament – In his State of the Nation speech on Thursday, President Jacob Zuma blamed a number of external factors for the problems facing the economy, steering well clear of demands that he explain the firing of Nhlanhla Nene.

EFF leader Godrich Gardee had interrupted the speech early to call on Zuma to address the issue in the speech.

Leader of the Democratic Alliance, the official opposition, Mmusi Maimane stepped in to add: "We can discuss the job of one man, who is Minister Nene, or we can discuss the jobs of 8.3 million South Africans [who were unemployed]."

Ignoring the pressure from all sides, Zuma stuck to his narrative detailing external forces.

He said global growth remained muted and financial markets had become volatile.

He noted that the currencies of emerging markets had become weak and that commodity prices had dropped significantly.

Zuma went on to point out that the it was not South Africa alone that was suffering, mentioning problems in the economies of other members of the Brics group. The economies of two of South Africa's partners in the Brics group – Brazil and Russia - he said, were expected to contract this year and the third, China, "will not register the kind of robust growth it is known for".

Zuma limited his list of domestic factors that had damaged the economy to electricity constraints and industrial relations, "which are sometimes unstable".

No mention was made of the market turmoil that resulted when he fired Nene suddenly in December and replaced him with little known ANC backbencher David van Rooyen, and his about-turn four days later when former finance minister Pravin Gordhan was reinstated to the job.

He ignored the loud call from Gardee to tell the chamber why Nene was dismissed. "It is very relevant – R500 billion gone" - Gardee said in reference to the pounding the stock exchange took after the trusted treasury chief was axed.

But the ejection from the house of the EFF shortly afterwards meant that, apart from the odd murmur, Zuma's explanation of the causes of South Africa's economic problems went unchallenged on the night.

African News Agency

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