New Age2.png Zuma talks tough Dennis Cruywagen, The New Age, Johannesburg, 12 February 2016 Running two capitals is an expensive business and the country will have to decide soon on the future of Parliament, President Zuma has said. Opening Parliament with his state of the nation address, he talked about South Africa's nuclear energy plans, urged police to defend themselves when threatened but within the confines of the law and announced austerity cuts to eliminate wasteful expenditure. Last night's opening of Parliament was marred by attempts by the EFF to cause a disruption. The entire EFF contingent was ordered to leave the house and walked out singing. They departed after Cope leader Mosioua Lekota and his party departed Parliament after being ordered to do so. SONA 2016.jpg Zuma called for a resilient and fast-growing economy, as espoused in the National Development Plan. A growing economy created jobs, enabled workers to earn money, allowed business to make profits and expanded the government's tax base. Income tax gave government the funding to provide housing, basic services faster and in a more sustainable manner. With the economy facing difficulties, the reality for South Africa was that with global growth remaining muted, financial markets have become volatile, currencies of emerging markets were weakening, while the price of minerals such as gold, coal and platinum had dropped significantly. BRICS partners Brazil, Russia and China were also experiencing economic difficulties, Zuma said. These developments were affecting the South Africa economy. Domestic factors such as electricity constraints and industrial relations, which were sometimes unstable, were also playing a role. The International Monetary Fund and World Bank had said the economy would grow less than 1% this year. Were this to happen, revenue collection will be lower than previous years. South Africa was at risk of being downgraded by ratings agencies. "If that happens it will become more expensive to borrow money abroad," Zuma said. "The situation requires an effective turnaround plan. It's about doing things differently." The president was confident that South Africa's positive attributes outweighed these challenges. But for South Africa to continue to be a preferred investment destination, it required business, the government and labour to work together. "If there are any disagreements between us we should solve them before they escalate," he said. "This is necessary for the common good of our country." Invest South Africa Referring to a meeting with business leaders, Zuma said he had heard suggestions on how to turn the economy around. The government was creating a one-stop shop, Invest South Africa, which would create the correct investment infrastructure as called for by business. The government had heard the concerns raised about state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and companies. But many SOEs were performing well. Sanral, for instance, had built some of the best roads in Gauteng and in many parts of the country. "These make us the envy of many parts around the globe," Zuma said. On racism, he said the nation was shaken last month when racism reared its ugly head on electronic and social media. To fight racism and build unity, March 21 (Human Rights Day) would be commemorated as National Day Against Racism. Zuma said February 11 commemorated former president Nelson Mandela's release from prison, as well as the 50th anniversary of District 6 having been declared a white group area. Yesterday was also the anniversary of the women's march to Pretoria. One of those marchers, Sophie de Bruin, was in the house, as was Mary Burton, former president of the Black Sash, an organisation that the president praised for its fight for justice, equality and human rights. This year is the 40th anniversary of 1976 Soweto uprising. Photographer Sam Nzima, who took the photograph of Hector Pieterson after he had been shot dead, was also in the House. Zuma praised the students of 1976 for fighting against the apartheid regime. . [email protected] From: <http://tnaepaper.co.za/DRIVE/main%20edition/12022016/epaperpdf/1.pdf> http://tnaepaper.co.za/DRIVE/main%20edition/12022016/epaperpdf/1.pdf -- -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. 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