SOUTH AFRICA: South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki unveiled a raft of policies yesterday to fight poverty and unemployment in the continent's biggest economy and boost a growth rate which lags behind that of other emerging markets.
The ruling African National Congress, which won a landslide victory in the country's third democratic elections last month, has pledged to spend 100 billion rand (€12.34 billion) over the next five years to halve a jobless rate of 30 per cent by 2014.
In his first state-of-the-nation address since the election, Mr Mbeki abandoned the poetic language which often punctuates his speeches, sticking to a brisk outline of steps to address the concerns of both business leaders and ordinary people. "We committed ourselves to move our country forward decisively towards the eradication of poverty and underdevelopment in our country, taking care to enhance the process of social cohesion," he said.
He spoke after an unusually colourful opening of parliament ceremony, with cheering children and dignitaries lining a 300-metre red carpet and waving South African flags, celebrating the country's 10th anniversary of democracy.
Last month's euphoric anniversary celebrations were capped by winning the right last week to host the 2010 soccer World Cup, with all its accompanying economic and cultural dividends.
Yet a decade after apartheid's collapse, income disparities between South Africa's black majority and white minority are still among the widest in the world, and the government is driving policies to hand more economic ownership to blacks.
Mr Mbeki said the government would spend more to provide housing and clean water for South Africa's poor and ensure that the country's railway and port infrastructure - seen as a key impediment to growth - was dramatically upgraded.
He also addressed the thorny subject of HIV-AIDS, saying that by March 2005 some 53,000 people would be on a newly rolled out drugs treatment plan for the epidemic, which infects an estimated one in nine of South Africa's 45 million people.
Econometrix market analyst Mr George Glynos said of Mr Mbeki's speech: "He covered all the major points and he's laid out a plan of action. The fact he's also benchmarked them against some sort of timeframe is also positive. My concern lies in whether they will in fact be able to deliver everything they have set out to do."
Mr Mbeki also responded to complaints about the country's high rate of violent crime - a big deterrent to both local and offshore investment, which is also very low by global standards.
Special crime units would be set up within three months to target serious violations, with an immediate aim to arrest 200 top criminals, he said. There would be more than 10,000 extra police by 2006 and a victim support unit by the end of 2004.
Responding to a concern in local financial markets, Mr Mbeki promised policies by October to ensure prices set by government bodies did not fuel inflation, which is now within the official 3 to 6 per cent target range. Administered prices in the health, transport and energy sectors often rise well above 6 per cent.