Whoops! President Zuma Refers to South Africa’s 1.4 Billion (!) Children

South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma has never had a good relationship with numbers, and it tripped him up again during his Human Rights Day address in King William’s Town in the Eastern Cape earlier this week.

President Zuma was talking about the Early Childhood Development Programme which ensures that even poor and working class children get a good start in education.

He said the government has grown the programme from supporting “three hundred thousand children to 1.4 billion children.” He obviously meant million! And it’s a mistake anybody could make… but it’s being shared on social media thanks to Zuma’s previous fumbling with figures, most notably when quoting the falling ANC membership numbers.

Government pays a subsidy of fifteen rand per child per day and also pays a subsidy to each approved Centre. He also mentioned that “nine million children receive meals through the National School Nutrition Programme and also do not pay school fees”. (The President’s speech appears to now written with numbers as words, not figures.)

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