Zuma was replying to debate on the Presidency’s budget vote in a half empty chamber after the Democratic Alliance (DA), Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), United Democratic Movement (UDM) and the Congress of the People (Cope) boycotted the sitting.
A jovial Zuma nevertheless hit back at his absent critics, accusing them of being trapped in their own propaganda world and failing their voters.
Zuma also denied that South Africa was on the road to becoming a failed state.
The president spoke about radical economic transformation as Statistics SA revealed that unemployment has now hit a 13-year high of nearly 28%.
"If we don’t deal with these matters, I can tell you we will stay for a long time with protests, people protest and we who have everything are wondering why are they protesting? There are no services to them, while there are services to the neighbours. They’ve got no jobs."
