President Jacob Zuma's first State of the Nation address to Parliament marks a shift towards a socialist agenda, said Democratic Alliance (DA) Parliamentary leader Athol Trollip.

"Despite President Zuma's intimation that his first State of the Nation address would revolve around the theme of 'a culture of continuity', in truth it was marked by a very particular and distinct ideological shift towards a socialist agenda," he said in a statement.

It was quite clear now that Zuma's term of office would be defined by a drive to centralise power in the hands of the executive, dramatically increase social spending and to promote an industrial policy hindering real economic growth and job creation, reinforcing and strengthening the hand of unions, Trollip said.

"As a consequence, there is a very real concern that this government will not be able to properly finance its programme of action and that, among other things, our budget deficit will grow significantly," Trollip said.

However, within this broad agenda, there were positive initiatives and policy proposals.

But, while Zuma did well to cover most areas of concern in general terms, his speech lacked detail and specificity and failed to properly identify how many of these well-meaning but generic sentiments would be realised in practical terms, he said.

Trollip also welcomed Zuma's admission that the country was facing grave challenges, such as HIV/Aids and the skills deficit, which distinguished him from his predecessor Thabo Mbeki, who often denied the extent or threat of such problems.

"Of very real concern to the DA, however, was the President's remark that the African National Congress (ANC) government intends to increase its drive to transform the judiciary.

"Now, more than ever, the judiciary needs to be strengthened, its expertise bolstered, and its independence defended and upheld.

"The ANC's programme of transformation is used by the party as code for control and an excuse to deploy its cadres to key centres of power.

"The judiciary must remain independent and President Zuma failed to give an assurance that it will not be subverted in the way other public offices, like the Public Protector, have been," Trollip said.

Zuma's failure to acknowledge the damage that cadre deployment had done to the public service more generally or to commit to ending its existence, represented a missed opportunity; one where he really could have distinguished himself from the previous administration, he said.