South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has said the country’s economy is in better shape than it was before the COVID-19 pandemic and his government will work to ensure its continued growth.
The Covid-19 pandemic no longer determines how we live our lives. We have been able to protect the most vulnerable in society from its worst effects,” Ramaphosa said in his New Year speech on Saturday.
The president said that South Africa’s economy is in better shape than before the COVID-19 pandemic and that his government will work to ensure its continued growth.
Our economy is growing again and is now bigger than it was before the pandemic. Over the past year, around 1.5 million new jobs have been created, she said, although he admitted that 2022 had been a difficult year for South Africans.
There have been devastating tragic events that have destroyed both lives and livelihoods. These events have included floods, fatal vehicle accidents, deaths in taverns, dam wall collapses, drownings, fires in informal settlements and, most recently, the horrific explosion of a fuel tanker truck in Boksburg in Gauteng that killed at least 34 people, Ramaphosa said as he called on citizens to hope for a better life.
The president highlighted some of the successes of 2022 such as the Presidential Employment Stimulus, which has provided opportunities to more than a million citizens; improve the business operating environment and attract new investment.
He said the government was also working hard to end the load disconnection crisis, which has left much of the country without power for up to eight hours a day in recent weeks.
“The benefits of this work may not be felt immediately, but we should hope that these efforts will steadily reduce the need for de-loading until it is no longer needed,” Ramaphosa said.
He said that over the last year, there were milestones in the fight against corruption after the State Catch Commission delivered its final report and the government established a plan to implement its recommendations.
There have been several arrests, prosecutions, and convictions for corruption and state capture related cases. State companies such as Eskom and Transnet have recovered significant amounts of stolen funds, Ramaphosa said.
Among these actions is the ending of extradition requests to Dubai for the return of the Gupta brothers, former Indian citizens, accused of looting billions from state-owned companies through their close association with ousted former president Jacob Zuma.
Working together, we can and will rebuild our country. We can and will improve our economy and improve the lives of our people, Ramaphosa concluded.
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