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ID President Patricia de Lille says President Jacob Zuma has been ‘very indecisive' in his first year in office.

‘Too often when he is asked for his stance on a particular issue he says we need to debate, we need to discuss and we need to consult because he is trying to appease all sectors of society. The ID believes that the time for debates, discussions and consultations is over - we now need a strong leader that can make decisions and actually govern our country,' Ms De Lille says.

‘Service delivery is very, very slow, with so many ministers and deputy ministers looking like lame ducks while service delivery protests continue to increase. What we need at this stage of our development is a leader that can inspire us, give us hope and make decisions.

‘All over the President's Government his lack of decisive leadership is evident, with ongoing battles over who really controls economic policy and endless confusion over ministers whose mandates often overlap with others,' says De Lille.

‘It is also of major concern that the President has a bloated office full of people that failed to advise him to declare his interests. It is not good for a President to break the law when he is at the same time making noises about bad governance and corruption.

‘Many of the key appointments Zuma has made, especially in the security and justice arenas have been a clear sign of payback to those that helped him ascend to power. Some extreme examples of this have been the appointments of national prosecutions chief Menzi Simelane and Secret Service head Mo Schaik and others, where Zuma has put the repayment of his personal debts before the interests of the public,' De Lille says.

The ID leader cited Zuma's ‘fresh, new approach to the fight against HIV and Aids and his willingness to meet with opposition parties on a quarterly basis' as examples of ‘solid leadership he should receive due credit for.

‘With Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi the President has been responsible for a complete turnaround in the fight against HIV and Aids by increasing access to ARVs and going for a public HIV test. We would like to commend President Zuma for doing many of the fundamentals that have been lacking in Government's approach towards Aids over the past decade,' says De Lille.

The ID President says President Zuma's ‘inability to understand the difference between the law and ethics is certainly his biggest character flaw.

‘This has revealed itself again and again, when Zuma fathered a child out of wedlock and then finally apologised, when for months he failed to publicly denounce Malema for his divisive and aggressive rhetoric and also in relation to his belated response to the ANC's financial gain from electricity price increases imposed on ordinary South Africans,' says De Lille.

‘His comment that Chancellor House has not broken any law shows he is a President who puts opportunism before ethics. Instead of providing the kind of ethical leadership one would expect from a President, Zuma hides behind his own questionable and opportunistic interpretation of the law.

‘Meanwhile, efforts by the ID in Parliament to set up an ad hoc committee that will eventually draw up regulations for political party funding were last week again met with complete disinterest by the ANC, whose Secretary-General has repeatedly bemoaned the absence of such regulations,' De Lille says.