SA’s woes in four charts as embattled Zuma opens Parliament
Ahead of the president’s state of the nation address on Thursday night, four gloomy graphics tell the real story of the country’s economic decline
President Jacob Zuma will need to confront more than opposition lawmakers disrupting his annual state of the nation address (Sona) at the opening of Parliament as he seeks to reassure the nation the economy has turned a corner. Zuma, who has survived five bids by opposition legislators to force him from office since he took the job in 2009, is scheduled to address the National Assembly at 7pm in Cape Town on Thursday. He has ordered the army to be deployed to "maintain law and order" for the opening of Parliament; the EFF is expected to obstruct proceedings, as its members did in 2016. The address comes at a time when unemployment is at the highest in 13 years, economic growth last year was the slowest since a recession in 2009, and the country is struggling to retain its investment-grade credit rating. These four charts show the economic challenges the nation faces as Zuma addresses lawmakers: Economic growth slowed to about 0.4% last year, according to central bank estimates. This...
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