Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2006. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
South African Press Association - February 7, 2006
"Government has to urgently do something to prevent predictions that 5,8-million South Africans will be infected [with] the Aids virus by 2010 ..." African Christian Democratic Party leader Kenneth Meshoe told the National Assembly in a debate on the address.
In mentioning HIV and Aids only once, the president had failed to deal with the pandemic as a national priority, Meshoe said.
"The ACDP believes that HIV and Aids has to be included on government's priorities agenda alongside poverty and unemployment."
Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille said Aids was one of the lead killers of South African children -- who represented the "age of hope" Mbeki had referred to in his speech.
It was one thing for Mbeki to state that South Africa had one of the largest anti-retroviral treatment programmes in the world, but it also had the largest number of HIV-positive people.
"Our programme is currently only reaching five percent of the actual need in the country," De Lille said.
Aids was one of several serious issues Mbeki had glossed over in his speech, said Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon.
What he should have told the nation -- but did not -- was that the government would roll out more anti-retroviral drugs and teach South Africans that HIV caused Aids, said Leon.
Inkatha Freedom Party leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi said a "leadership crisis" was preventing the nation's liberation from HIV/Aids along with other evils like crime and unemployment.
Corruption was another topic Mbeki was criticised on by the opposition.
"We must admit that there are growing levels of corruption and corruptive practices and attitudes in all spheres of government and organs of state," said Buthelezi.
"The mindset of too many of our people in government is wrong. There is a feeding frenzy and a growing notion that service in government is a platform to enrich oneself, feather one's next for a future job, or to help friends and family."
Leon said corruption and mismanagement were destroying government service delivery.
He quoted presidential spokesperons Murphy Morobe describing as "a drop in the ocean" the R700 000 cost of an overseas holiday trip by Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.
"He was right. R700 000 is nothing compared to what other departments waste."
Leon referred to "dozens" of travel voucher fraud-accused MPs sitting on the parliamentary benches.
Two MPs convicted of fraud last year were back on the African National Congress' municipal election candidates list -- one in the top spot.
Mbeki had made no mention of any severe corruption on his watch, including the so-called Oilgate scandal, Leon said.
The hope of South Africans, as enunciated by Mbeki, was under threat from corruption, crime and unemployment, failed service delivery, and what Leon termed the ANC's assault on the Constitution.
"South Africa today is not short of optimism. What we are short of is clean government. Proper service delivery. And the will to follow words with deeds."
De Lille said the government could no longer blame an inherited lack of capacity for its service delivery failures.
"The government has had 11 years to build capacity. Failure to do so is holding the entire country back," she said.
"By putting in political appointments, you have undermined the public service and made it a less attractive place for people to work."
United Democratic Movement leader Bantu Holomisa said South Africans' optimism about the future was fragile and regularly dented by "embarrassing incidents".
Buthelezi said recent riots against poor service delivery were reminiscent of those under apartheid rule.
"They cannot just be swept under the carpet merely for us to feel good. Everything in the garden is not as rosy as we might wish it to be."
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