President Cyril Ramaphosa: KEY takeaways from Nation Address

President Cyril Ramaphosa has addressed the nation this evening, Monday. 30 October, highlighting significant strides in the country’s economy, fight against corruption, water and energy security.

WHAT THE NATION WANTED TO HEAR FROM PRESIDENT CYRIL RAMAPHOSA

Although most South Africans looked forward to the much-anticipated Springboks celebratory holiday, which he declared on 15 December, President Cyril Ramaphosa gave insight on various programmes that the State has embarked on to improve the lives of the people.

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The South African looks at some of the key takeaways from the Nation Address:

DEALING WITH COVID-19

Ramaphosa said: “When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, we put in place decisive public health interventions that saved many lives. To deal with negative economic effects of the pandemic, which resulted in the loss of more than 2 million jobs, we put in place an unprecedented stimulus package that lessened the damage to the economy. Since then, in the midst of severe load shedding and increased global volatility, the economy has continued growing, albeit too slowly. The economy has shown a significant degree of resilience and is now larger than it was before the pandemic.”

JOB CREATION

Ramaphosa said, “Over the last two years, the number of people with jobs has increased by two million, bringing the level of employment close to its pre-pandemic level. A key element of the reconstruction and recovery plan was to expand social protection and public employment.”

SASSA SRD GRANT

Ramaphosa said, “The special SRD Grant known as the R350 grant, which we introduced in 2020, has kept millions of people out of poverty, and continues to provide much-needed support for those who are unemployed.   The Presidential Employment Stimulus has created over 1.2 million opportunities since its establishment, representing the largest expansion of public employment in South Africa’s history”.

PRESIDENT CYRIL RAMAPHOSA ON THE INFRASTRUCTURE RECOVERY PLAN

The President said: “Another commitment we made in the Reconstruction and Recovery Plan was to fix South Africa’s infrastructure through renewed investment in maintenance and construction of new projects.   Several significant infrastructure projects are underway.”

ALSO READ: Mchunu, Ramaphosa observe progress in upgrade of Emfuleni critical water infrastructure

ENDING LOAD SHEDDING

Ramaphosa said: “We are making progress towards ending load shedding.  Our greatest priority has been to reduce the severity and frequency of load shedding to achieve energy security.   Over the last few months, there has been a measurable decline in the severity of load shedding.   The Energy Action Plan that I announced in July last year is showing positive results, giving us greater confidence that we will bring load shedding to an end.”

ALSO READ: Minister of Electricity: “Power grid records improvements”

PRESIDENT CYRIL RAMAPHOSA ADDRESSES CRIME AND CORRUPTION

Ramaphosa said, “We are also making progress in tackling crime and corruption.   The South African Police Service has established 20 Economic Infrastructure Task Teams throughout the country to protect critical infrastructure and tackle the ‘construction mafia’. Every arrest made and every length of cable recovered is a reason for hope.  We are making progress in the fight against corruption, including bringing those responsible for state capture to justice”.

Address to the Nation https://t.co/jxyC8Hv4CJ

— Cyril Ramaphosa 🇿🇦 (@CyrilRamaphosa) October 30, 2023