Cape Town – “Stop comparing South Africa with other similar-sized countries.”
That was the message from President Jacob Zuma on Wednesday when he responded to questions in the National Assembly.
The Democratic Alliance’s Geordin Hill-Lewis asked Zuma what initiatives his government was taking to ensure South Africa improves its rankings on the world stage.
Zuma responded by saying South Africa’s economic problems could largely be attributed to the fact that the majority of its citizens had been excluded from skills development and quality education in the past.
“Those are the problems we are faced with now,” he said. “In other countries, everybody was at school. Here, the majority was excluded, those who could have contributed massively to the economy.”
In a follow-up question, the DA’s Dean Macpherson asked Zuma how government could be trusted with diplomatic, trade and security issues when foreign direct investment declined by “74 percent, year on year”.
“Well, the honorable members have different views on matters,” Zuma said.
“The challenges of today are based on yesterday. This country did not educate its majority. The economy was run wrongly. We are dealing with our history, as well. That’s why we have difficulties that other countries don’t face. If there’s time, I can tell you about all that,” Zuma said.
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