South Africa’s Zuma Proposes 2016 Reforms

In his latest speech addressed to party supporters, President Jacob Zuma vowed certain reforms in 2016, such as enhancing living standards for the nation’s poor and instilling a national minimum wage, according to Bloomberg Business. Zuma has faced considerable heat from the public for multiple shortcomings, including the failure to improve the economy or upgrade the electric grid. South Africa also suffers from a 25.5 percent unemployment rate.

In his latest speech addressed to party supporters, President Jacob Zuma vowed certain reforms in 2016, such as enhancing living standards for the nation’s poor and instilling a national minimum wage, according to Bloomberg Business. Zuma has faced considerable heat from the public for multiple shortcomings, including the failure to improve the economy or upgrade the electric grid. South Africa also suffers from a 25.5 percent unemployment rate.

Nelson Mandela’s party, the African National Congress, had a history of winning over 60 percent of the vote since the 1990s, but the party’s credibility is on the line as Zuma struggles to get the economy back on track. The ANC wishes to overcome historical injustices of apartheid through land distribution and increasing wages, but the government is short on time as more people grow frustrated with the country’s ailing economy.

Zuma has a few more years left in his term, but local elections take place in 2016, and his party faces a bumpy road ahead as leaders fail to deliver on a variety of campaign promises. Over 100 protests erupted across the country in 2015 because of the government’s inadequate response to major issues, and society as a whole crumbles as crime and anti-immigrant sentiment soar nationally.

Further, Zuma did not do himself any favors by appointing an unknown individual as finance minister, which stoked uncertainty within the investment community, causing the government to backtrack by appointing someone more experienced within just four days. The South African rand’s value dropped to record levels in reaction to the debacle.

This is not the first time the government wavered on key issues. For instance, officials backed down after students protested the state’s intention to raise tuition costs, but leaders changed their tune by placing the proposal on hold and pledging additional money for financial aid.

An air of uncertainty hangs over the ANC as the international community and investors remain unsure of South Africa’s current trajectory. Business confidence plunged to its lowest level in South Africa in over two decades as authorities struggle to find a correct course of action. Moreover, these uncertainties not only call into question the country’s status as a sound investment haven, but also Zuma’s resolve as a leader who can navigate his country out of turmoil.

Zuma also has a corruption image to overcome, as he has suffered accusations of using an air force for frivolous use, and of spending $13 million in taxpayer funds to renovate his personal residence, but the president has denied corruption allegations. The southern African nation has suffered immensely because of the commodities slump, but the blame lies with a government that has yet to spur economic growth while stumbling in the process.