PRETORIA, Jan 12, 2008 (AFP) - Jacob Zuma used his first keynote speech as leader of South Africa's ruling ANC Saturday to rebuke President Thabo Mbeki's failure to narrow the wealth gap, while saying he would not undermine his rival.
In an address to mark the party's 96th birthday, Zuma acknowledged Mbeki had presided over an uninterrupted period of growth but said "serious challenges of unemployment, poverty and inequality remain".
Zuma, frontrunner to succeed Mbeki as head of state in 2009 despite the prospect of a corruption trial in August, said measures were needed to ensure the poorest members of society were not left behind, and spoke of plans to make medicine and education more affordable.
After praising the government for bringing about a "significant reduction in level of severe poverty and improvement in quality of life for millions of our people", Zuma said the gap between rich and poor had in fact widened.
"The rate of income increase has not matched that of the better off, so income inequality has increased," he said.
Zuma, who ousted Mbeki from the helm of the ANC in a bitter leadership contest last month, owes his rise to power in large part to left-wing allies such as the COSATU labour federation and the Communists.
In a sign that a Zuma-led administration would see a major increase in public spending, he signalled his desire for more government intervention to lower unemployment, which is estimated to be running at nearly 40 percent.
"We must work together to create decent work opportunities as the primary focus of our economy so that we can further absorb the unemployed by promoting labour-intensive production methods and procurement policies through significant expansion of the public works programme," Zuma said.
He also acknowledged concerns about the cost of health care in a country with the highest number of people living with HIV in the world, floating plans for a state-run pharmaceutical company to keep prices down.
"Government should pay particular attention to the high cost of health provision and high medicine prices," he said. "Proposals to establish a state-owned pharmaceutical company need to be explored further."
On education, Zuma said he wanted to scrap fees for 60 percent of schools by the end of next year.
He also pledged to step up the pace of a government programme to redistribute land which remains overwhelmingly in the hands of white farmers, nearly 14 years on from the end of the apartheid regime.
"We must accelerate the process of land restitution," said Zuma, reiterating earlier plans to "review the willing-buyer, willing-seller approach".
The speech had been billed as an opportunity to heal some of the divisions between Mbeki and Zuma's camp after last month's election contest.
The spectre of two centres of power has prompted fears that South Africa is about to enter a lengthy period of political turbulence, but Zuma said he would strive to ensure relations between the party and government were smooth.
"We are aware of the responsibility of assuring smooth working relations and we cannot fail the nation in this regard," he said.
"ANC members outside of government will not be allowed to undermine the government. Equally those deployed in government cannot undermine those working in the ANC," he added.
Mbeki was not present at the rally in a football stadium but was instead preparing for a press conference where he announced the national police chief had been placed on leave ahead of an impending corruption trial.
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