Democratic Alliance (DA) Parliamentary leader Athol Trollip on Monday lambasted President Jacob Zuma's State of the Nation speech, saying that the current crop of African National Congress (ANC) leaders is not comparable to the previous generation.

"Your first year in office has hardly been stellar and your call for 2010 to be a year of action really rings hollow in our ears," Trollip told Zuma during debate in the National Assembly.

"Why? Because we have heard all these exhortations before... Why should 2010 be any more a year of action than 2008 or 2009?" he asked.

Trollip said that Zuma had ignored the Auditor-General's assertion of almost total breakdown of financial management.

Among other things, the Eastern Cape health department had overspent its budget by R1,8-billion with no measurable improvement in healthcare provision.

As a result, creditors had not been paid, and small to medium sized enterprises had closed and been sequestrated, leading to job losses.

"When will you invest in putting competent people into key posts and when will you begin ensuring that scarce resources are efficiently, effectively and economically spent?

"It appears not in the near or foreseeable future as you and Mr [Gwede] Mantashe have stated that your failed and 'unlawful' policy of cadre deployment will continue; in fact, you say that cadre deployment will be more objective and transparent. This is the ultimate oxymoron."

Zuma's performance contracts with Cabinet Ministers with measurable outcomes being the criteria for monitoring their individual performance was refreshing, but not new.

It would also require political will and Zuma would have to personally support and back Minister in the Presidency Collins Chabane to the hilt.

"If you can't or won't, the contracts will be worth as much as the Public Finance Management Act is in our public service corps.

"Equally, your corruption commission, comprised of the very ministers under whose watch corruption flourishes, will be still borne if there is no real political will and exemplary leadership."

On presidential pardons, Trollip urged Zuma to resist the temptation to abuse his position of power to pardon his "friends".

"Beware also of taking the nation's intellect for granted. You cannot use the pardon of one person as a smokescreen for the pardon of another. Pardons should be considered only in cases where there has been a travesty of justice."

This was not evident on first principles in the cases of Schabir Shaik and Eugene de Kock.

"Pardons undermine the rule of law and the principle of equality before the law - which you, sir, incidentally are responsible for upholding," he said.

"When you compromise yourself and the rule of law, you accelerate the slide to a failed State. Zimbabwe is a shameful example of this regression."

"Mr President, speaking of political will, let me inform you that in the one area where you have shown some will - the meddling with the judiciary, the Judicial Service Commission and judicial appointments - your actions and those of your emissaries have not gone unnoticed and are a source for grave concern.

"There are apparently some 'bullet proof' jurists and legal practitioners that have the unconditional support of your government despite how compromised they may be."

Zuma also needed to give unambiguous leadership about how jobs were going to be created and the economy stimulated as South Africa pulled out of the recession.

"Some ideas from someone who has always shown capital growth post recession, Richard Branson, are instructive.

"He clearly states that optimism and instinct are no substitute for hard work," Trollip said.

Improved performance was the only thing that could keep Zuma and the ANC in power.

"You skirt around the issue of responsibility and accountability at your personal cost and that of your government."

The DA's political growth had been assisted by the quality or lack of leadership in the ANC at all levels of government because leadership was as leadership did.

"The reality is that the current crop of ANC leaders is not comparable to the previous generation; certainly not to the person we are paying tribute to in this debate [Nelson Mandela]. Food for thought indeed," Trollip said.