Sunday Times (Johannesburg) - February 10, 2008

Reacting to Mbeki's speech, ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said: "There has never been an expectation that the President will take the resolutions of the ANC and make them the State of the Nation address. We never had such an expectation. All the key issues, education campaign, agrarian reform and on the issue of the DSO (the Scorpions), there is an alignment with what we want."

Here is a comparison of some of the promises made by Zuma on January 8 and by Mbeki on Friday.

* Zuma: Absorb the unemployed by promoting labour-intensive production methods and procurement policies. Significant expansion of public works programmes and an enlarged national youth service.

* Mbeki: Intensify the Expanded Public Works Programme to absorb more entrants: this will include increased intake of young people to maintain public infrastructure, doubling the number of children enrolled in Early Childhood Development to over 600 000 through 1000 new sites with more than 3 500 practitioners trained and employed, and increasing the number of care-givers.

* Zuma: Further enhance efforts to improve the conditions of children and youth in poverty. Gradually extend child support grants to 18 years, develop a comprehensive strategy on early childhood development and expand the school nutrition programme to include high school learners in poorer communities.

* Mbeki: The elaboration of an integrated and comprehensive anti-poverty strategy. Focus on children, women, the youth, people living in rural areas and urban informal settlements, people with disabilities or chronic illnesses and the elderly.

* Zuma: Free and compulsory education for the poor to undergraduate level. Work to implement resolution that 60% of schools achieve "no-fee" status by 2009.

* Mbeki: Prioritise further interventions in the further education and training (FET) colleges and Setas, and resource schools in the lowest three quintiles, freeing them from the responsibility of charging fees and speeding up on-the-job training for professional graduates.

* Zuma: Accelerate land redistribution and ensure that necessary support is provided to beneficiaries. Implement conference resolutions with respect to foreign ownership of land; allocation of customary land; and review of the willing-buyer, willing-seller approach.

* Mbeki: Speed up land and agrarian reform with detailed plans for land acquisition, better implementation of agricultural support services and household food support, and provide micro-credit in this sector. Focus on areas of large concentrations of farm dwellers and those with high eviction rates, and increase black entrepreneurship in agricultural production by 5% a year. The audit on land ownership will be speeded up.

* Zuma: Development of integrated human settlements is a critical element in our fight against poverty. Address the proliferation of informal settlements, curb the costs of construction, and direct resources to human settlements.

* Mbeki: We are now able to provide 260 000 housing units per annum, and an agreement has been reached with Salga (SA Local Government Association) to place a moratorium on the sale of land that can be availed for the housing programme.

* Zuma: Reduce the rate of new HIV infections by 50% and expand access to appropriate treatment, care and support to 80% of all HIV- positive people by 2011.

* Mbeki: Intensified implementation of the National Strategic Plan against HIV and Aids. R educe tuberculosis defaulter rates from 10% to 7%, train more than 3000 health personnel in the management of this disease and ensure that all multi-drug resistant and extreme drug-resistant TB patients receive treatment.

080210
ST080202

Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2008. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.

AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.

Copyright ©1980, 2008. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content. .