President Cyril Ramaphosa
Cape Town – Addressing the nation from City Hall, President Cyril Ramaphosa reaffirmed the transformative impact democracy has had on countless South African lives since 1994. The President’s speech came in light of responses to the State of the Nation Address (SONA) debate which highlighted divergent views concerning the country’s past, present, and its future trajectory.
President Ramaphosa countered debate criticisms with a firm statement: “The debate in this House over the last two days has shown that there are sharp differences among political parties about our past. There are also sharp differences about our present and indeed about our future as well. Yet amongst all the contributions made in the debate, no speaker has been able to refute a fundamental reality that the lives of millions of South Africans have been transformed over the 30 years of freedom. This is the reality… whether we like it, or we don’t like it, that is the reality we confront,” he declared on Thursday.
Citing evidence from the comprehensive national census by Statistics South Africa, the President underscored the “extraordinary improvements on a range of social and economic indicators over the past three decades,” which he insists are clearly observable in the daily experiences of South Africans.
However, Ramaphosa did not shy away from the current challenges facing the nation, highlighting the contrast between the new opportunities available to the youth and the persistent difficulties many encounter: “We need to celebrate the fact that young people… have had the opportunities that were never available before. But we also need to recognise, as we did in the [SONA], that young people… still have many challenges.”
Amid concerns on unemployment, crime, load shedding, corruption, and service delivery issues in municipalities, Ramaphosa promised that his government is committed to resolving these pervasive problems.
In his remarks, President Ramaphosa indicated his administration’s focus on economic recovery and job creation: “Over the last five years, we have made significant progress in restoring our economy to grow and create jobs.”
He celebrated South Africa’s economic bounce-back post-COVID and reported remarkable progress in the agricultural and tourism sectors. He highlighted the substantial growth in agricultural exports, which hit a record $12.8 billion (R247 billion) in 2022, and a 29% increase in international tourist arrivals compared to the previous year.
The President ended with a message of hope and commitment to build “a better life for all of democracy’s children”, invoking the story of Tintswalo, a symbolic child of the democratic era. “It is by working together that we will continue to write the story of our free nation and of a future of peace, comfort and prosperity for all,” President Ramaphosa concluded.
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