Zuma promises creation of half a million jobs

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} In his first state of the nation address, new South African President Jacob Zuma has promised to create half a million jobs before the end of this year.   A week after South Africa officially announced that it was facing its worst recession in 17 years, President Zuma also said fighting poverty was his top priority. "We must act now to minimise the impact of this downturn on those most vulnerable," he said in Cape Town.   After less than a month in office, the new president has to perform a delicate balancing act to appease his union allies who are currently staging strike action, yet avoid scaring off investors.   He adopted an inclusive approach by delivering some of his speech in Afrikaans, in contrast to his predecessor Thabo Mbeki who spoke entirely in English, and whose critics found "aloof" and "out of touch with the common man".   Mr Zuma also announced a new annual national holiday, Mandela Day, on 18 July, and promised to deliver "the best World Cup ever" when South Africa hosts the football tournament in June 2010.   There was also a promise to provide anti-retroviral HIV drugs for 80 percent of those in need by 2011, as part of efforts to halve the rate of new HIV infections.   Mr Zuma, whose African National Congress Party (ANC) swept into power in the April elections after strong support from unions and the poor, cautioned against expectations of a quick fix to the financial slump, however.   "The economic downturn will affect the pace at which our country is able to address the social and economic challenges it faces,ÔÇØ he said, ÔÇ£but it will not alter the direction of our development." ┬á   The South African economy shrank by 6.4 percent during the first quarter of this year and almost one in four South Africans is unemployed. Fifteen years after the end of apartheid, about 40 percent of South Africans still live in poverty.   A three-year 787 billion rand spending programme ($98 billion; ┬ú60 billion) was announced in this year's budget, including funds for schools, transport, housing and sanitation.   "In the face of the economic downturn, we will have to act prudentlyÔÇöno wastage, no rollovers of fundsÔÇöevery cent must be spent wisely and fruitfully," said Zuma.     *┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á *┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á *