Dar es Salaam - Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa arrived today, Tuesday 12 May 2015 in Tanzania ahead of the scheduled Extra-Ordinary   Summit of Heads of State and Government of the East African Community (EAC) to discuss challenges facing Burundi.

Deputy President Ramaphosa will be representing President Jacob Zuma who was invited to the Summit on account of his previous role as   Mediator in the Burundi peace process.  nbsp; 

The Summit has been convened specifically to deliberate upon the current political and security challenges facing the people of Burundi and to chart a way forward.  The Summit is expected to be attended by Heads of State and Government of Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi including South Africa’s Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa.  

The summit was preceded by a visit to Burundi by a delegation of regional foreign ministers to assess the current situation in the country and make recommendations to the Summit regarding the proposed way forward.

Deputy President Ramaphosa will be supported during the summit by Deputy Minister Nomaindia Mfeketo, South Africa’s High Commissioner Thami Mseleku and senior government officials.

Deputy President Ramaphosa is expected to return to South Africa tomorrow Wednesday 13 May 2015.

For more information contact Ronnie Mamoepa on +27-82-990-4853

Issued by: The Presidency

Pretoria

Theme: One People, One Destiny

State House Conference Hall, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

The Heads of State consulted on the situation in Burundi.  At the time they were consulting, there were new developments in Burundi:-

1. Summit condemns the coup in Burundi and calls for the return to constitutional order.

2. Given the situation in Burundi, conditions are not conducive for elections in Burundi and the summit calls upon the authorities to postpone the elections for a period not beyond the mandate of the current government. 

3. As the region continues to consult with all stakeholders to make sure that the situation in Burundi normalises and elections can be held in a free, fair and peaceful manner in respect of the constitution of Burundi, the laws of Burundi and the Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Agreement; the summit condemns violence and calls on all parties to make sure that violence stops.

4.The Region will not accept nor standby if violence does not stop or escalates in Burundi.

5. The Summit will reconvene soon to review the situation in Burundi.

EAC Secretariat

Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

Speaker of the National Assembly, Ms Thandi Modise,
Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces, Mr Amos Masondo,
Deputy President David Mabuza,
Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng and esteemed members of the judiciary,
Former President Thabo Mbeki and Mrs Mbeki,
Former President Kgalema Motlanthe and Mrs Motlanthe,
Former Deputy President FW de Klerk and Mrs De Klerk,
Former Speaker Ms Baleka Mbete and Mr Khomo,
President of the Pan African Parliament, HE Mr Roger Nkodo Dang,
UN Women SA Representative, Ms Anne Githuku-Shongwe,
Isithwalandwe, Mr Andrew Mlangeni,
Ministers and Deputy Ministers,
Premiers and Speakers of Provincial Legislatures,
President of SALGA and Executive Mayors,
Governor of the South African Reserve Bank, Mr Lesetja Kganyago,
Heads of Chapter 9 Institutions,
Leaders of faith based organisations,
Leaders of academic and research institutions,
Members of the Diplomatic Corps,Invited Guests,
Honourable Members of the National Assembly,
Honourable Members of the National Council of Provinces,

Fellow South Africans,

It is 30 years since Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela walked out of the gates of Victor Verster Prison, a moment in our history that signalled perhaps more vividly than any other that freedom was at hand.

As he stood on the balcony of Cape Town City Hall to address the masses who had come in their tens of thousands to welcome him, he said:
‘Our march to freedom is irreversible. We must not allow fear to stand in our way.’

Now, 30 years later, as we continue our onward march to improve the lives of our people, as we confront great challenges, as we endure troubled times, we too cannot allow fear to stand in our way.

We must forge ahead, permitting neither adversity nor doubt to divert us.

As we gather to reflect on the state of our nation, we are joined by the family of Basil February, a courageous young freedom fighter who lost his life in Zimbabwe in the Wankie campaign of 1967.

For half a century his resting place, like those of several of his comrades, has, until now, remained unknown.

His contribution, his sacrifice, has never been forgotten.

This evening, we gather here humbled by the memories of those men and women who gave their lives for our freedom, deeply aware of the great responsibility we carry to
realise their dreams.

There are times when we have fallen short, there are times when we have made mistakes, but we remain unwavering in our determination to build a society that is free and equal and at peace.

Our history tells us that when we are united in peace and faith, we can conquer all obstacles and turn our country into a place in which we all feel safe and comfortable.

It is in that spirit that we now approach the present moment.

Our country is facing a stark reality.

Our economy has not grown at any meaningful rate for over a decade.

Even as jobs are being created, the rate of unemployment is deepening.

The recovery of our economy has stalled as persistent energy shortages have disrupted businesses and people’s lives.

Several state owned enterprises are in distress, and our public finances are under severe pressure.

It is you, the people of South Africa, who carry this burden, confronted by rising living costs, unable to escape poverty, unable to realise your potential.

Yet, at the same time, there is another part to our reality.

It is the reality of a youthful population that has more access to education than ever before and which is achieving steadily improving outcomes.

It is the reality of 2.4 million children in early childhood development and pre-school.

It is about the 81% of learners who passed matric last year, with an increasing proportion coming from rural and township schools.

For this great achievement, we applaud the Class of 2019.

Our reality is also that of the 720,000 students who received state funding for TVET colleges and universities last year.

It is about the 6.8 million South Africans who know their HIV status, about the 5 million people who have been initiated on antiretroviral treatment and the 4.2 million people whose HIV viral load is, as a consequence, undetectable.

These are not just statistics.

These are lives being improved.

They are signs of progress.

Our reality is also one of unbounded potential.

Of a soil that is rich in minerals and in a diversity of plant and animal life that has few equals in the world.

Of a deep capital base, extensive infrastructure, sound laws and robust institutions.

Of a rich, diverse, young and talented people. 

Tonight, we are joined by Zozibini Tunzi, whose ascendance to the Miss Universe title is a reminder of our potential to achieve greatness against the odds. 

We also welcome Springbok captain Siya Kolisi, who led a group of determined and united South Africans to become the 2019 World Rugby Champions.

We are joined this evening by another remarkable young person, Miss Sinoyolo Qumba, a Grade 11 learner from Lenasia South, who spent much of yesterday helping me to write this State of the Nation Address.

Her intellect, her social awareness, her passion and her diligence give me great confidence in the future of this country.

In my first two addresses to the nation I spoke at length about the necessity of social compacting, and the great responsibility we shoulder as government to drive collaboration and consensus.

In 1994 we chose the path of negotiation, compromise and peaceful settlement, instead of hatred and revenge.

Our history and contemporary experience has taught us that if we are to achieve what we set out to do, we must focus on what unites instead of divides. 

The greatest strength of our constitutional democracy, and the reason it has endured, is because we have been able to forge broad-based coalitions and social compacts, be they with business, labour, special interest groups or wider civil society.

Achieving consensus and building social compacts is a not demonstration of weakness. It is the very essence of who we are.

That is why over the past two years we have been hard at work seeking to forge and build consensus around our economic recovery plan. 

In his inaugural address on the 10th of May 1994, President Nelson Mandela said:

“Today we enter into a covenant that we shall build a society in which all South Africans, both black and white, will be able to walk tall, without fear in their hearts, assured of their inalienable right to human dignity.”

This government remains irrevocably committed to upholding that covenant. 

It is a covenant that is rooted in the strategic objective of our National Development Plan, which is to eliminate poverty and reduce inequality by 2030. 

Let us frankly admit that that the government cannot solve our economic challenges alone. 

Even if we were to marshal every single resource at our disposal, and engage on a huge expenditure of public funds, we would not alone be able to guarantee employment to the millions of people who are out of work.

What we have achieved, we have achieved together.

Over the course of the last two years – since I first stood here to deliver a State of the Nation Address – we have worked to forge compacts among South Africans to answer the many challenges before us.

Through the Jobs Summit, we brought labour, business, government and communities together to find solutions to the unemployment crisis, and we continue to meet at the beginning of every month to remove blockages and drive interventions that will save and create jobs.

We have come together, as government and civil society, as communities and faith-based groupings, to confront the violence that is perpetrated by men against women.

We have brought business, labour and government together to craft master plans for those industries that have the greatest potential for growth.

We have come together as different spheres of government, as different state entities, as business associations and community groups under a new district development model that is fundamentally changing our approach to local development.

We have been building social compacts because it is through partnership and cooperation that we progress.

Together, over these last two years, we have worked to stabilise our economy and build a foundation for growth.

We have been deliberate in rebuilding institutions and removing impediments to investment.

We have acted decisively against state capture and fought back against corruption.

We have steadily improved the reach of education, improved the quality of health care and tended to the basic needs of the poor.

Yet, that has not been enough.

It has not been enough to free our economy from the grim inheritance of our past, nor from the mistakes that we ourselves have made.

It has not been enough to spare us from the debilitating effects of load-shedding, nor from an unstable and subdued global economy.

And so we find ourselves today at a decisive moment.

We have a choice.

We can succumb to the many and difficult and protracted problems that confront us, or we can confront them, with resolve and determination and with action.

Because we choose to confront our challenges, our immediate, vital and overarching task is to place our economy on a path of inclusive growth.

Without growth there will be no jobs, and without jobs there will be no meaningful improvement in the lives of our people.

This State of the Nation Address is therefore about inclusive growth.

It is about the critical actions we take this year to build a capable state and place our economy on the path to recovery.

This year, we fix the fundamentals.

We pursue critical areas of growth.

And we ensure excellence in planning and execution in government.

Fellow South Africans,

For over a decade, South Africans have had to contend with the effects of a constrained energy supply.

I have spoken extensively about the critical role that Eskom plays in the economy of our country and in the livelihood of every South African.

The load shedding of the last few months has had a debilitating effect on our country.

It has severely set back our efforts to rebuild the economy and to create jobs.

Every time it occurs, it disrupts people’s lives, causing frustration, inconvenience, hardship.

At its core, load-shedding is the inevitable consequence of Eskom’s inability over many years – due to debt, lack of capacity and state capture – to service its power plants.

The reality that we will need to accept is that in order for Eskom to undertake the fundamental maintenance necessary to improve the reliability of supply, load-shedding will remain a possibility for the immediate future.

Where load-shedding is unavoidable, it must be undertaken in a manner that is predictable and minimises disruption and the cost to firms and households. 

Over the next few months, as Eskom works to restore its operational capabilities, we will be implementing measures that will fundamentally change the trajectory of energy generation in our country.

We are taking the following measures to rapidly and significantly increase generation capacity outside of Eskom:

-    A Section 34 Ministerial Determination will be issued shortly to give effect to the Integrated Resource Plan 2019, enabling the development of additional grid capacity from renewable energy, natural gas, hydro power, battery storage and coal.

-    We will initiate the procurement of emergency power from projects that can deliver electricity into the grid within 3 to 12 months from approval.

-    The National Energy Regulator will continue to register small scale distributed generation for own use of under 1 MW, for which no licence is required.

-    The National Energy Regulator will ensure that all applications by commercial and industrial users to produce electricity for own use above 1MW are processed within the prescribed 120 days. It should be noted that there is now no limit to installed capacity above 1MW.

-    We will open bid window 5 of the renewable energy IPP and work with producers to accelerate the completion of window 4 projects.

-    We will negotiate supplementary power purchase agreements to acquire additional capacity from existing wind and solar plants.

-    We will also put in place measures to enable municipalities in good financial standing to procure their own power from independent power producers.

In line with the Roadmap announced last year, Eskom has started with the process of divisionalising its three operating activities – generation, transmission and distribution – each of which will have its own board and management structures. 

The social partners organised under Nedlac have been meeting over the last two weeks to agree on the principles of a social compact on electricity.

This is a historic and unprecedented development since it demonstrates the commitment of all social partners to take the necessary actions and make the necessary sacrifices to secure our energy needs.

Through this compact the social partners seek an efficient, productive and fit-for-purpose Eskom that generates electricity at affordable prices for communities and industries.

This requires both a drastic reduction in costs – including a review of irregular contracts – and measures to mobilise resources that will reduce Eskom’s debt and inject fresh capital where needed.

The social partners – trade unions, business, community and government – are committed to mobilising funding to address Eskom’s financial crisis in a financially sustainable manner.

They would like to do this in a manner that does not put workers pensions at risk and that does not compromise the integrity of the financial system.

While they work to finalise this agreement, the reality is that our energy system will remain constrained until new energy generation comes on stream.

Through these immediate measures and the work underway to fundamentally restructure our electricity industry, we will achieve a secure supply of reliable, affordable and, ultimately, sustainable energy.

We undertake this decisive shift in our energy trajectory at a time when humankind faces its greatest existential threat in the form of climate change.

Yesterday I met Ayakha Melithafa, a young climate activist from Eerste Rivier who attended the World Economic Forum in Davos this year to call on world leaders to stand firmly for climate justice.

Ayakha asked me to make sure no African child is left behind in the transition to a low-carbon, climate resilient and sustainable society; and it is a promise I intend to keep.

The Presidential Commission on Climate Change will ensure that as we move towards a low carbon growth trajectory that we leave no one behind.

We will finalise the Climate Change Bill, which provides a regulatory framework for the effective management of inevitable climate change impacts by enhancing adaptive capacity, strengthening resilience and reducing vulnerability to climate change – and identifying new industrial opportunities in the green economy.

Honourable Members,

We need to fix our public finances.

Low levels of growth mean that we are not generating enough revenue to meet our expenses, our debt is heading towards unsustainable levels, and spending is misdirected towards consumption and debt-servicing rather than infrastructure and productive activity.

We cannot continue along this path. Nor can we afford to stand still.

When he delivers his Budget Speech two weeks from now, the Minister of Finance will outline a series of measures to reduce spending and improve its composition. 

We are engaged with labour and other stakeholders on measures to contain the public wage bill and reduce wastage.

Efforts to reduce government spending, prioritise resources more effectively, and improve the efficiency of our tax system are important – but insufficient – contributions towards stabilising our public finances. 

Achieving sustainability will ultimately require us to address structural challenges in the economy that raise the cost of living and doing business. 

By working with the Auditor-General to reduce irregular expenditure, by shifting government spending from consumption expenditure to investment in infrastructure, we aim to improve the state of public finances.

The National Treasury and the SA Reserve Bank are working together to ease pressure on business and consumers. 

We have decided to establish a sovereign wealth fund as a means to preserve and grow the national endowment of our nation, giving practical meaning to the injunction that the people shall share in the country’s wealth.

We are also proceeding with the establishment of a state bank as part of our effort to extend access to financial services to all South Africans.

The Minister of Finance will provide details on these in his Budget Speech.

We will be undertaking far-reaching economic reform measures that we will include those contained in the paper produced by National Treasury, entitled ‘Economic Transformation, Inclusive Growth and Competitiveness’.

This year, we are moving from the stabilisation of state-owned enterprises to repurposing these strategic companies to support growth and development.

After years of state capture, corruption and mismanagement, we are working to ensure that all SOEs are able to fulfil their developmental mandate and be financially sustainable.

In consultation with the Presidential SOE Council, we will undertake a process of rationalisation of our state owned enterprises and ensure that they serve strategic economic or developmental purposes.

The extent of capture, corruption and mismanagement in SOEs is best demonstrated at South Africans Airways, which was placed in business rescue late last year.

The business rescue practioners are expected to unveil their plans for restructuring the airline in the next few weeks.

In the interests of South Africa’s aviation industry and our economy, it is essential that a future restructured airline is commercially and operationally sustainable and is not dependent on further government funding.

A key priority this year is to fix commuter rail, which is vital to the economy and to the quality of life of our people. 

Our rail network daily transports over a million commuters to and from work.

We are modernising PRASA’s rail network. 

The Central Line in the Western Cape and the Mabopane Line in Pretoria have been closed for essential refurbishment and upgrades. 

We are investing R1.4 billion in each of these lines to provide, a safe, reliable and affordable service. 

Work underway on other lines includes station upgrades, parkway replacements, new signalling systems and overhead electrical traction upgrades. 

As we work to fix the capabilities of the state, we know that growth and job creation will in large measure be driven by private enterprise.

We are therefore building an operating environment that is favourable to doing business.

Working together with social partners, we have continued to address several issues that have been barriers to job creation. 

Water use licences, which are so essential to operations on farms, factories and mines, have previously taken an inordinately long time to process, sometimes up to 5 years.

We are able to announce that water use licences are now issued within 90 days.

It used to take months to have a company registered. 

Through the Bizportal platform one can now register a company in one day, register for UIF and SARS and even open a bank account, 

Our ports are congested and inefficient.

During the course of this year, we will undertake a fundamental overhaul of the Durban port – the third largest container terminal in the Southern Hemisphere – to reduce delays and costs.

The most significant contribution we can make to inclusive economic growth is in the development of appropriate skills and capabilities.

The investments we make now in early childhood development and early school learning will yield great economic benefits in the next two decades – and beyond.

But there are immediate interventions that we are making to improve the quality and the relevance of our educational outcomes.

We are making progress with the introduction of the three-stream curriculum model, heralding a fundamental shift in focus towards more vocational and technical education.

Various technical vocational specialisations have already been introduced in 550 schools and 67 schools are now piloting the occupational stream.

We are building nine new TVET college campuses this year, in Sterkspruit, Aliwal North, Graaff Reinet and Ngungqushe in the Eastern Cape, and in Umzimkhulu, Greytown, Msinga, Nongoma and Kwagqikazi in KwaZulu-Natal.

Through bilateral student scholarship agreements we have signed with other countries, we are steadily building a substantial cohort of young people who go overseas each year for training in critical skills.

We have seen the impact this can have with the Nelson Mandela Fidel Castro Medical Training Programme in Cuba, which has produced over 1,200 medical doctors and a further 640 students are expected to graduate in December 2020. 

This programme is a living monument to these two great revolutionaries.

Last year I spoke about our plan to issue tablet computers to school students.

The process of distributing these tablets is underway. 

We said that every 10-year-old needs to be able to read for meaning.

Our early reading programmes are gathering momentum.

This year, we will be introducing coding and robotics in grades R to 3 in 200 schools, with a plan to implement it fully by 2022.

We have decided to establish a new University of Science and Innovation in Ekurhuleni. 

Ekurhuleni is the only metro in our country that does not have a university. 

This will enable young people in that metro to be trained in high-impact and cutting-edge technological innovation for current and future industries.

Investment and growth require a safe, stable and crime-free environment.

More importantly, it is fundamental to the aspirations of all our people to live in security, peace and comfort.

Police visibility, effective training and better resourcing of police stations are our priorities.

I have prioritised our response to the growing problem of criminal groups that extort money from construction and other businesses.

Specialised units – bringing together SAPS and the National Prosecuting Authority – are mandated to combat these crimes of economic disruption. 

To support the growth of the tourism industry, the SAPS will increase visibility at identified tourist attraction sites.

It is training Tourism Safety Monitors and will establish a reserve police capacity to focus on the policing of tourist attraction areas.

Anti-Gang Units will be further strengthened, with priority given to the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Gauteng and Free State.

Following the graduation of 5,000 police trainees last year, 7,000 new police trainees have been enlisted this year to strengthen local policing.

To improve the quality of general and specialised SAPS investigations, we are establishing a Crime Detection University in Hammanskraal.

Fellow South Africans,

Over the last six months, the nation has been galvanised – across communities, government, civil society, religious groupings, the judiciary and parliament – to end the crisis of violence perpetrated by men against women. 

It has been a truly united and determined response from all South Africans. 

Through building social compacts across society to fight this scourge we will be able to achieve much more.

But it is only the beginning of the struggle.

We implemented an emergency action plan and reprioritised R1.6 billion to support this plan until the end of the current financial year.

There has been progress in several areas.

We will amend the Domestic Violence Act to better protect victims in violent domestic relationships and the Sexual Offences Act to broaden the categories of sex offenders whose names must be included in the National Register for Sex Offenders, and we will pass a law to tighten bail and sentencing condition in cases that involve gender-based violence.

We will not let up in the fight against corruption and state capture.

We need to work together to root out corruption and strengthen the rule of law. 

We should not solicit or pay bribes or engage in corrupt acts. 

We should upgrade our culture of reporting crime when we see it being committed.

This battle can only succeed if it is taken on by the whole of society, if we build a formidable social compact of all formations.

We therefore welcome the work of the joint government and civil society working group charged with developing a national anti-corruption strategy and implementation plan, which is close to completion of this phase of its work.

We plan to launch the strategy by mid-year.

The Zondo Commission of Inquiry into State Capture continues with its critical work with the full support of government and other institutions.

I have received a detailed and voluminous report on the Commission of Inquiry into the Public Investment Corporation. 

I will make it available to the public together with a plan on taking the findings and recommendations forward in a few days.

Fellow South Africans,

As we fix the fundamentals, as we deepen the reforms we have made, we pursue critical areas of inclusive growth.

In the previous SONA, I said that is a critical area of investment that supports structural transformation, growth and job creation. The Infrastructure Fund implementation team has finalised the list of shovel-ready projects and has begun work to expand private investment into public infrastructure sectors with revenue streams.

These include areas like student accommodation, social housing, independent water production, rail freight branch lines, embedded electricity generation, municipal bulk infrastructure, and broadband roll-out. 

The team has a project pipeline with potential investments of over R700 billion over the next 10 years, including both government and non-government contributions.

The cranes and yellow equipment that we have longed to see across the landscape of our country will once again soon be an everyday sight.

The social housing programme to build rental housing for low-income families is at implementation stage, which could leverage as much as R9 billion of private investment in the construction of 37 000 rental apartments.

The young people who are at university and TVET Colleges face serious accommodation challenges. 

Some don’t even have places to sleep after lectures and resort to sleeping in libraries. 

We are going to spend R64 billion over the next years in student accommodation and will will leverage at least another R64 billion in private investment. 

These building projects are ready to start.

We have been speaking about the Umzimvubu Dam in the Eastern Cape for almost a decade, with little to show on the ground.

We are determined to overcome the financial and other challenges that have held back progress and denied the people of this areas such a vital resource.

Road construction on the site has commenced, and I will soon be visiting the site to ensure that we take this work forward.

We are launching a Tourism Equity Fund this year to stimulate transformation in tourism. 

Last year, I asked the nation to join me in imagining a new smart-city, a truly post-apartheid city that would rise to change the social and economic apartheid spatial architecture.  A new smart-city is taking shape in Lanseria, which 350,000 to 500,000 people will call home within the next decade.

The process is being led by the Investment and Infrastructure Office in the Presidency alongside the provincial governments of Gauteng and North West, working together with the cities of Johannesburg, Tshwane and Madibeng. Working with development finance institutions we have put together an innovative process that will fund the bulk sewerage, electricity, water, digital infrastructure and roads that will be the foundation of the new city. 

It will not only be smart and 5G ready, but will be a leading benchmark for green infrastructure continental and internationally.

We will be piloting an alternative rural roads programme during which four experimental road stretches of 50km each will be constructed. 

This initiative will ensure cost effective solutions for the State, meaningful skills transfer and higher potential for labour intensive job creation than conventional roads construction methods.

Fellow South Africans,

We are confronted by the crisis of youth unemployment. Of the 1.2 million young people who enter the labour market each year, approximately two thirds remain outside of employment, education or training. 

More than half of all young people are unemployed.We need to make this country work for young people, so that they can work for our country.

The solution to this crisis must be two-pronged - we must all create opportunities for youth employment and self-employment.

On youth employment, as from today, we begin the implementation of the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention – six priority actions over the next five years to reduce youth unemployment.

First, we are creating pathways for young people into the economy. 

We are building cutting-edge solutions to reach young people where they are – online, on the phone and in person. 

This will allow them to receive active support, information and work readiness training to increase their employability and match themselves to opportunities. 

Starting this month, we are launching five prototype sites in five provinces that will grow to a national network reaching three million young people through multiple channels. 

This will allow them to receive active support, information and work readiness training to increase their employability and match themselves to opportunities.

Second, we are fundamentally changing how we prepare young people for the future of work, providing shorter, more flexible courses in specific skills that employers in fast-growing sectors need.

Third, we are developing new and innovative ways to support youth entrepreneurship and self-employment.

Fourth, we are scaling up the Youth Employment Service and working with TVET colleges and the private sector to ensure that more learners receive practical experience in the workplace to complete their training.

Fifthly, we are establishing the first cohort of a Presidential Youth Service programme that will unlock the agency of young people and provide opportunities for them to earn an income while contributing to nation building.

Finally, we will lead a youth employment initiative which will be funded by setting aside 1% of the budget to deal with the high levels of youth unemployment. 

This will be through top slicing from the budget, which will require that we all tighten our belts and redirect resources to address the national crisis of youth unemployment.

The Minister of Finance will prioritise this initiative and give specific details when he delivers the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement later this year.

These six actions will together ensure that every young person in this country has a place to go, that their energy and capabilities are harnessed, and that they can contribute to the growth of their communities and their country.

As part of this intervention, the National Youth Development Agency and the Department of Small Business Development will provide grant funding and business support to 1,000 young entrepreneurs in the next 100 days – starting today. 

We have invited three of these young entrepreneurs to join us here this evening: Siyabonga Tiwana, Sibusiso Mahone and Tholakele Nkosi. 

They and others like them prove that, given the necessary support, young people can create their own opportunities. 

These three young entrepreneurs form part of a larger and more ambitious programme to assist 100,000 young entrepreneurs over the next 3 years to access business skills training, funding and market facilitation.    The empowerment of women is critical to inclusive economic growth.

We are introducing the SheTradesZA platform to assist women-owned businesses to participate in global value chains and markets.

Over the next five years, the Industrial Development Corporation is targeting R10 billion of own and partner funding for women empowered businesses.

To create a larger market for small businesses, we plan to designate 1,000 locally produced products that must be procured from SMMEs.

The Procurement Bill will soon be presented to Parliament as part of our efforts to empower black and emerging businesses and advance radical economic transformation. 

This year, we intensify our investment drive with the establishment of an integrated investment promotion and facilitation capability coordinated from the Presidency.

We will hold our third South Africa Investment Conference in November to review the implementation of previous commitments and to generate new investment into our economy.

At the second South Africa Investment Conference last year, over 70 companies made investment commitments of R364 billion in industries as diverse as advanced manufacturing, agro-processing, infrastructure, mining, services, tourism and hospitality.

In the first two years of our ambitious investment drive, we have raised a total of R664 billion in investment commitments, which is more than half of our five-year target of R1.2 trillion.

More importantly, these investments are having a real impact.

Already, projects with an investment value of R9 billion have been completed and 27 projects worth just over R250 billion are in implementation phase, with more coming on-stream this year.

I have visited newly-built factories that make smartphones, and plants expanded to produce more cars, and walked through the dust on construction sites at supplier parks. 

We have been to the opening of facilities producing goods ranging from power cables to sanitary products, from tyres to food.

We have made important progress in finalising and implementing master plans in vital parts of our economy. 

These master plans bring government, labour and business together to develop practical measures to spur growth at sector level and each partner contributes to making it work.

Thanks in large measure to the Auto Master Plan, we sold more cars to the rest of the world last year than ever before, providing jobs for young people in Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. 

We launched a new auto SEZ hub in Tshwane, which will expand production and local manufacture of components. 

The Clothing and Textiles Master Plan, which was signed last year, aims to create 121,000 new jobs in the retail-clothing textile and footwear sector over the decade.

It involves commitments by retailers to buy goods locally, by manufacturers to invest and support transformation, and by labour to develop bargaining structures that promote agile manufacturing. 

For its part, Government has already begun to act vigorously against illegal imports, seizing almost 400 containers with under-invoiced products in the last quarter of 2019. 

This suit that I am wearing today, like last year, was proudly made by South African workers.

We completed the Poultry Master Plan to support chicken farmers and processors and save 54,000 jobs while creating new jobs. 

The industry is now focused on growth, greater production and more investment.

We will within two weeks set a new poultry import tariff adjustment to support the local industry. 

We have developed a plan with farmers and industrial users to save jobs in the sugar industry and will finalise a Sugar Master Plan within the next six weeks; and expect a new steel Master Plan to be finalised in the coming six months. 

Effective today, new regulations published in the Government Gazette will enable investigation and action against abuse of buyer power and price discrimination. 

This will help even the playing field for small businesses and emerging entrepreneurs.

Market inquiries into data services, the grocery retail market and health care have provided the basis for measures to reduce costs to consumers and make these sectors more competitive.

The competition authorities are now working towards a resolution with the large mobile operators to secure deep cuts to data prices across pre-paid monthly bundles, additional discounts targeted at low income households, a free daily allocation of data and free access to educational and other public interest websites. 

This is an important step to improve lives, bring people into the digital economy and stimulate online businesses.

The digital economy will increasingly become a driver of growth and a creator of employment.

The Presidential Commission on the Fourth Industrial Revolution has made far-reaching recommendations that impact on nearly every aspect of the economy and in many areas of our lives.

The Commission’s report provides us with the tools to ensure that we extract the greatest benefit of these revolutionary technological changes.


An important condition for the success of our digital economy is the availability of high demand spectrum to expand broadband access and reliability.

The regulator, ICASA, has undertaken to conclude the licensing of high demand spectrum for industry via auction before the end of 2020. 

Because of additional requirements, the licensing of the wireless open access network – or WOAN – is likely to completed during the course of next year.

Agriculture is one of the industries with the greatest potential for growth.

This year, we implement key recommendations of the Presidential Advisory Panel on Land Reform and Agriculture to accelerate land redistribution, expand agricultural production and transform the industry. Government stands ready – following the completion of the Parliamentary process to amend section 25 of the Constitution – to table an Expropriation Bill that outlines the circumstances under which expropriation of land without compensation would be permissible.

To date, we have released 44,000 hectares of state land for the settlement of land restitution claims, and will this year release round 700,000 hectares of state land for agricultural production.

We are prioritising youth, women, people with disabilities and those who have been farming on communal land and are ready to expand their operations for training and allocation of land. 

A new beneficiary selection policy includes compulsory training for potential beneficiaries before land can be allocated to them.

Because of the drought in many parts of the country, farmers lost crops and livestock and many workers have lost their livelihoods.

Working with the Agricultural Research Council and other scientific and agricultural bodies, we have developed drought mitigation strategies that focus on developing drought resistant seeds, planting and storing fodder, removing of invasive plantsand management strategies to prevent soil degradation.

This year we will open up and regulate the commercial use of hemp products, providing opportunities for small-scale farmers; and formulate policy on the use of cannabis products for medicinal purposes, to build this industry in line with global trends. 

The regulatory steps will soon be announced by the relevant ministers.

A fundamental condition for growth and development is a healthy and productive population, with access to quality, affordable health care.

We have noted the enthusiastic support from South Africans during public hearings on the National Health Insurance, and are putting in place mechanisms for its implementation following conclusion of the Parliamentary process. 

In preparation for NHI, we have already registered more than 44 million people at over 3,000 clinics in the electronic Health Patient Registration System, and are now implementing this system in hospitals.

I have established the Presidential Working Group on Disability to advise my office on measures to advance the empowerment of persons with disabilities as government plans, budgets and implements programmes.

Following the recognition by the Department of Basic Education in 2018 of South African Sign Language as a home language and the recommendation by the Parliamentary Constitutional Review Committee that it be the 12th official language, we are now poised to finalise the matter.

Fellow South Africans,

Earlier this week, I returned from Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, where South Africa assumed the chairship of the African Union for 2020.

We take up this responsibility at an important time for our continent.

This year, the African Continental Free Trade Area will come into effect.

This is our moment, as the people of the continent, to give effect to the dreams of the founding fathers of African unity. 

South Africa will host an Extraordinary AU Summit in May this year to finalise the modalities of the Free Trade Agreement before its implementation on 1 July 2020. 

Here we will finalise the rules that define what is a ‘Made in Africa’ product, the tariff lines that will be reduced to zero over the next five years, and the services sectors that will be opened up across the continent. 

Allow me to take this opportunity to congratulate our compatriot, Mr Wamkele Mene, who was this past weekend elected as the first Secretary-General of the African Continental Free Trade Area, and assure him of our full support as he assumes this historic and challenging responsibility.

South Africa has therefore prioritised the economic empowerment of Africa’s women during its term as AU chair, working with all member states on measures to promote financial inclusion, preferential procurement and preferential trade arrangements for women.

The AU Heads of State have pledged their support for measures to end gender-based violence on the continent, and will work towards the adoption of an AU Convention on Violence against Women during the course of this year.

Through the African Peer Review Mechanism, South Africa will work with other countries to advance good governance and democracy.

We will use all the means at our disposal – including our membership of the UN Security Council – to promote peace and security on the continent.

Honourable Members,Fellow South Africans,

Everything we do must be underpinned by effective implementation.

That is why we have developed the District Development Model, a unique form of social compacting that involves the key role players in every district so that we can unlock development and economic opportunities. 

It builds the capability of the state where it has been most broken.

During the SONA of February 2019 I addressed the five most urgent tasks of the moment, key among which was the need to strengthen the capacity of the state to address the needs of the people. 

A broad range of critical work is being done across government to strengthen the capacity of local government, as the sphere of government closest to the people, to achieve its developmental mandate of finding sustainable ways to meet the social, economic and material needs of communities and improve the quality of their lives. 

Provincial and national government will re-double their support and strengthen the capacity of municipalities as required by Section 154 of the Constitution and provide for the monitoring and support of municipalities.

It is only when the structured support has failed that the provincial executive or national government will invoke a Section 139 intervention. 

Currently there are 40 municipalities in the country subjected to such intervention.

The measures that will be taken will complement the objectives of the new district-based model of development, that seeks to take an integrated approach to` service delivery

Residents of the Mamusa Municipality in North West have already seen this approach in action, where the District Development Model was effectively utilised to clear illegal dumping sites, refurbish pump stations to stop sewage spilling in the streets, build roads and lay water pipes, and provide water and toilets to local schools.

This year, we plan to expand the district development model to 23 new districts, drawing on lessons from the three pilot districts – OR Tambo District Municipality, Ethekwini and Waterberg District Municipality.

To strengthen the capacity of the state and increase accountability, I will be signing performance agreements with all Ministers before the end of this month.

These agreements – which are based on the targets contained in the Medium-Term Strategic Framework – will be made public so that the people of South Africa can hold those who they elected into office to account.

We see these performance agreements as the cornerstone of a new culture of transparency and accountability, where those who are given the responsibility to serve – whether as elected office bearers or public servants – do what is expected of them.

It is a culture where corruption, nepotism and patronage are not tolerated, and action is taken against those who abuse their power or steal public money.

Since I took office, we have built capacity in the Presidency and elsewhere in the state to fast-track progress on a clear list of urgent reforms. 

We have established the Project Management Office, the Infrastructure and Investment Unit and the Policy and Research Services to address obstacles to reform and improve government delivery. These units are working closely with the Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Commission, InvestSA and the Ease of Doing Business Task Team to remove impediments to investment and growth and ensure that government demonstrates visible progress quickly. With an efficient and capable machinery now in place at the centre of government, we will focus on the most urgent reforms and intervene where necessary to ensure implementation.

Fellow South Africans,

We find ourselves at a decisive moment in our history.

It is a time of great difficulty and doubt, but also a time laden with great opportunities.

Over the last two years, we have worked together to build a foundation for progress.

Now is the time for us to build on that foundation, to unite, to work, to perservere.

We will not surrender our future to doubt, or despair, or division or to those who are permanently negative to the work that is being done to improve the lives of our people. 

We will continue our onward march to freedom.

We will embrace change.

We will cherish life.

We will fear nothing.

As we do so, we will recall the inspired lyrics of one of South Africa’s most treasured musicians, uBab Joseph Shabalala, the founder of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, whose passing we mourn this week.

Written in a different era, his words still ring true:

“We may face high mountains,Must cross rough seas,We must take our place in history, And live with dignity,As we climb to reach our destinyA new age has begun.”

I thank you.

13 February 2020 - 12:00pm

Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa will on Friday, 15 May 2015, address the National Sanitation Indaba at the International Convention Centre, in Durban.

The Indaba aims at sharing ideas and experiences in order to accelerate the adoption of world-class, advanced technologies by both municipal and industrial water users.

Priority issues to be discussed include sanitation technology assessment and evaluation, health, hygiene and education, cooperative governance and regulatory frameworks 

Deputy President Ramaphosa will touch on sanitation as a key development initiative and call for a greater profile for sanitation in all development initiatives that address poverty alleviation and community development.

Media are invited as follows:

Time: 08h00

Venue: Durban International Convention Centre

Date: 15 May 2015

Enquiries: Ronnie Mamoepa 082 990 4853

RSVP: Nthabiseng Rantau-Machiya 082 570 5503

Issued by: The Presidency

Pretoria

(Interview conducted with SABC and GCIS)

Question: Deputy President, South Africa was invited to Tanzania, Dar es Salaam to discuss the political crisis in Burundi and even before you could sit down to discuss that, something happened - first tell us as South Africa, as the guarantors of this agreement, the Arusha agreement what where you to bring on the table, what did you bring on the table.

Answer: Clearly as SA we are deeply concerned about the events in Burundi because they go completely against the legacy of the late former President Mwalimu Julius Nyerere who was the first facilitator - thereafter our own departed President Nelson Mandela who then handed the task to our President Jacob Zuma.

They created a very good and strong foundation for peace and stability in Burundi. So these events are spoiling and soiling that wonderful legacy of peace democracy and stability. That is what concerns us. It is for that reason that President Zuma felt that I should come and attend this summit.

Now at this summit, clearly as SA, we advocated very strongly that there needs to be a political approach and solution to the problems that currently beset Burundi; that we should focus on peace security and stability and make sure that what is happening - the flight of people who are leaving the country in droves should stop. The violence in the streets of Bujumbura should also stop and that people should settle down and try and resolve the problems in a peaceful way. Now that is South Africa’s strong position.

At the summit, which we attended on invitation, a very clear and strong decision was taken by the leaders that as things stand now, particularly in the light of the news of the coup, we do not believe as leaders, particularly here in the region, the leaders do not believe that the climate is conducive for elections to take place. And it is for that reason that the leaders in the summit called upon the authorities to immediately postpone the elections. To postpone them to a later date but not beyond the normal time when the mandate of the current government would have expired. What this would do is it will give all parties time to reflect. This will get people to cool down their tempers and they will get the situation under control. Peace should prevail so that a climate that is conducive for elections to take place should then be there and thereafter the elections can take place. 

And in the intervening period the region, the leaders in the region plus South Africa will be involved in dialogue and consultation with the various stakeholders in Burundi to make sure that the issues that are causing problems are resolved one way or another. 

Question: Would that resolution be to tell President Nkurunziza plain and clear the agreement that holds the country together now says your time is up and you cannot go for another term. Would South Africa be willing to tell that he is putting his country at risk?

Answer: Our approach is that we need to deal with the politics of what gives rise to these problems. And the politics of it all is that the Arusha agreement - the Arusha settlement dictated that there should be peace, democracy and stability in the country. And out of that arose a constitution which sets out what should be the terms of the President and all that. 

Now the constitutional court has given a view and there are legal opinions that have been put forward and all that has to be discussed and closely examined with the President and indeed other stakeholders.

Now the period between now and the holding of the elections - when they are postponed is going to give all parties, space, time and an opportunity to address all those issues in a political manner- so that the interest of the country are put way ahead of the interests of individuals or certain political parties but the interest of the whole nation- so that out of this there can be unity that is engendered, there can be unity of purpose as well and stability to move the country forward.

Question: For you what do you see as a risk for the region and for the continent if the situation in Burundi is not nipped in the bud? 

Answer: There is a high risk, strives that we have seen in Burundi in the past weeks can be so big, can threaten the stability of the country, and in fact the leaders who have gathered here feel it could also impact on the region because as people flee they are going to various countries in the region and that leads to instability of a number proportions for those countries and clearly Burundi stability is in the interest of all the countries in the region. And that is why the leaders said we cannot standby to see violence and political strive tearing Burundi apart, that should not be allowed. We will make sure that we work to stop the violence that is unfolding there.

Question: Are you hopeful?

Answer: I am very hopeful in spite of what would seem like a deteriorating situation like a coup, in spite of the intransigent of various parties I think the leaders in the region are determined to make sure that peace is found and I believe that it would be found, the determination is strong just as strong as strong can be to make sure Burundi does not deteriorate. 

Issued by: The Presidency

Pretoria

Johannesburg - Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa will, today Friday, 15 May 2015, address the Muslim Civil Society Conference Gala Dinner on the role of civil society in the implementation of the National Development Plan (NDP) at the Wanderers Club, Illovo, Johannesburg.

The Muslim Civil Society Conference is organised by the Auwal Socio-economic Research Institute (ASRI) in response to government’s call for active participation of all stakeholders in making concrete proposals regarding the implementation of the NDP.

With the NDP now adopted and supported by the broadest sections of our society, the focus has now shifted to implementation. Government has developed a Medium Terms Strategic Framework (2014 - 2019) which constitutes the initial building blocks toward the 2030 goals.

Government has embarked on a process to call for nominations for people with skills in areas such as: infrastructure development, urban and regional planning, energy, agriculture and food security, education and training, health, public policy and governance, community engagement, economics, finance, budgeting and banking, ICT, telecommunications amongst others, to serve in the National Planning Commission. 

The Muslim civil society conference is expected to be attended by members of the public, business leaders, academics and representatives of civil society organisations.

The conference will focus on eight chapters of the NDP: Improving Education and Innovation, Promoting Health, Uniting the Country, Building Safer Communities, Protecting the Environment, Fighting Corruption, Creating Employment, and Effectively Implementing Policy.

Members of the media are invited as follows:

Date: Friday 15 May 2015

Venue: The Wanderers Club, Illovo, Johannesburg

Time: 18:30 

For accreditation contact: Sam Matome Bopape 082 318 5251 or Zakiya Fareed 082 766 6342.

Enquiries: Ronnie Mamoepa 082 990 4853

Issued by: The Presidency

Pretoria

Cape Town - Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa will tomorrow, Wednesday 20 May 2015 announce a new dispensation on Gauteng e-tolls at the GCIS Imbizo Centre, 120 Plein Street, Cape Town.

Deputy President Ramaphosa will be joined by Minister of Transport Dipuo Peters, Minister of Finance Nhlanhla Nene, Gauteng Premier David Makhura, Gauteng MEC’s for Transport and Finance, Ishmael Vadi and Barbara Creecy respectively.

The new e-tolls dispensation is the product of extensive public consultation, deliberations within government and approval by cabinet.

Media is invited as follows: 

Time: 14h00

Venue: Imbizo Centre, 120 Plein Street, Cape Town (linked to Pretoria, Tshedimosetso House, via video-conferencing)

Date: 20 May 2015

Media background briefing:

Time: 13h00

Venue: GCIS (Committee room 1) Imbizo centre, Cape Town

Date: 20 May 2015

For more information contact Ronnie Mamoepa on 082 990 4853/Tyrone Seale on 083 575 7440/Terrence Manase on 073 904 1549/Liezel on 076 778 2380.

Issued by: The Presidency

Cape Town

Speaker of the National Assembly, Ms Baleka Mbete,
Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces, Ms Thandi Modise,
Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly and Deputy Chairperson of the NCOP,
Deputy President David Mabuza,
Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng and esteemed members of the judiciary,
Former President, Mr Thabo Mbeki,
Former President, Mr Kgalema Motlanthe
Former Speaker of the National Assembly, Dr Frene Ginwala,
Former Speaker of the National Assembly, Mr Max Sisulu,
Ministers and Deputy Ministers,
Premiers and Speakers of Provincial Legislatures,
Chairperson of SALGA and Executive Mayors,
Governor of the South African Reserve Bank, Mr Lesetja Kganyago, 
Heads of Chapter 9 Institutions,
Isithwalandwe, Ms Sophie De Bruyn, 
Isithwalandwe, Mr Andrew Mlangeni,
Chairperson of the National House of Traditional Leaders, Ikosi Sipho Mahlangu,
Western Cape Khoi San Leader, Prince Jacobus Titus,
Kgosi John Molefe Pilane,
Chief Aaron Martin Messelaar,
2018 CAF Women’s National Team Coach of the Year, Ms Desiree Ellis,
Leaders of faith based organisations,
Leaders of academic and research institutions,
Veterans of the struggle for liberation,
Members of the Diplomatic Corps,
Invited Guests,
Honourable Members of the National Assembly,
Honourable Members of the National Council of Provinces,
Fellow South Africans,

It is a great honour to stand before you today to deliver the 25th annual State of the Nation Address in a free and democratic South Africa.

This year, as a diverse people and as a united nation, we will celebrate one of the greatest of human achievements.

We will celebrate the triumph of freedom over subjugation, the triumph of democracy over racial tyranny, the triumph of hope over despair.

We will celebrate the irresistible determination of an oppressed people to be free and equal and fulfilled.

We will use this time to recall the hardship and the suffering which generations of our people endured – their struggles, their sacrifices and their undying commitment to build a South Africa that belongs to all who live in it.

We will remember the relief and exhilaration of the day of our freedom, the moment at which we became a nation, a country at peace with itself and the world.

During the course of this year, we must and will reflect on the journey of the last 25 years.

As South Africans, we will have to ask ourselves whether we have realised the promise of our nation’s birth.

We must spend this year, the 25th anniversary of our freedom, asking ourselves whether we have built a society in which all South Africans equally and without exception enjoy their inalienable rights to life, dignity and liberty.

Have we built a society where the injustices of the past no longer define the lives of the present?

We must use this time to reflect on the progress we have made, the challenges we have encountered, the setbacks we have suffered, and the mistakes we have committed.

A year ago, we set out on a path of growth and renewal.

Emerging from a period of uncertainty and a loss of confidence and trust, we resolved to break with all that divides us, to embrace all that unites us.

We resolved to cure our country of the corrosive effects of corruption and to restore the integrity of our institutions.

We resolved to advance the values of our Constitution and to once again place at the centre of our national agenda the needs of the poor, unemployed, marginalised and dispossessed.

We agreed that, in honour of the centenary of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela and Albertina Nontsikelelo Sisulu, we would devote our every action, our every effort, our every utterance to the realisation of their vision of a democratic, just and equitable society.

In our magnificent diversity, and despite our many differences, the people of this country answered the call of Thuma Mina.

In their multitudes, South Africans asked not what can be done for them, but what they could do for their country.

In ways both large and small, both public and private, South Africans set about building a better nation. 

Many reached out to other South Africans to lend a hand where others were going through difficulties. 

Others expressed a willingness to support government in its efforts to turn the country around.
 
Today, as we reflect on the year that has passed, we can attest to meaningful progress.

Our people have embraced the renewal that our country is going through and are much more hopeful about a better tomorrow.

Our people’s hope is not baseless; it is grounded on the progress that is being made. 

Over the last year, we have begun to rebuild a durable social compact for fundamental social and economic transformation with key stakeholders as we promised.

As social partners, we are restoring the bonds of trust, dialogue and cooperation.

We are reaching out to those parts of our society that have become disaffected, disinterested or marginalised through various forms of dialogue and engagement.

Our efforts may have been uneven, and we still have much work to do, but we have demonstrated over the last year our shared determination to work together to confront our common challenges.

We have focused our efforts on reigniting growth and creating jobs.

We have worked together – as government, labour, business, civil society and communities – to remove the constraints to inclusive growth and to pursue far greater levels of investment.

We held a successful Presidential Jobs Summit that agreed on far-reaching measures that – when fully implemented – will nearly double the number of jobs being created in our economy each year.

Last year, a number of stakeholders raised their concerns about policy uncertainty and inconsistency.

We have addressed these concerns.

In response to the dire situation at several of our state-owned enterprise – where mismanagement and corruption had severely undermined their effectiveness – we have taken decisive measures to improve governance, strengthen leadership and restore stability in strategic entities.

We have also had to deal with the effects of state capture on vital public institutions, including our law enforcement agencies, whose integrity and ability to fulfil their mandate had been eroded in recent years.

We have therefore acted to stabilise and restore the credibility of institutions like the National Prosecuting Authority, the South African Revenue Service, the State Security Agency and the South African Police Service.

We have appointed a new National Director of Public Prosecutions, Adv Shamila Batohi, to lead the revival of the NPA and to strengthen our fight against crime and corruption.

We are implementing the recommendations of the report of the Nugent Commission of Inquiry into SARS and are in the process of appointing a new Commissioner to head this essential institution.

On the basis of the report and recommendations of the High Level Review Panel on the State Security Agency, which was chaired by former Minister Sydney Mufamadi, I will soon be announcing a number of urgent steps to enable the reconstitution of a professional national intelligence capability for South Africa.

 Among the steps we will take to reconstitute a professional national intelligence capability will be the re-establishment of the National Security Council chaired by the President in order to ensure better coordination of the intelligence and security related functions of the State as well as the re-establishment of two arms of our intelligence service one focusing on domestic and the other on foreign intelligence.

Work on the reconfiguration of the state is at an advanced stage. 

We are pleased to note that in the spirit of active citizenry many South Africans continue to show a great interest in the future reconfigured state. 

During the course of the past year as the Presidency, we have paid particular attention to the violence and abuse perpetrated against women and children in our society.

We responded to national concerns and calls by many South Africans by convening a Summit on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide that has provided a firm basis for a coordinated national response to this crisis.

We also convened the first Presidential Health Summit in October last year, which brought together key stakeholders from a wide range of constituencies in the health sector. 

At this Health Summit, the participants dissected the crisis in the health system and proposed immediate, short term and medium term solutions to improve the effectiveness of the health system.  

We begin this new year encouraged by the progress we have made, working together, in reviving our economy and restoring our country’s democratic institutions.

We are determined to stay the course.

We are undaunted by the considerable difficulties we have yet to overcome.

All of us, as South Africans, should face up to the challenges and difficulties that lie ahead.

The task of building a better South Africa is our collective responsibility as a nation, as the people of South Africa.

It is at the centre of the work of every department of government, of every agency, of every public entity.

It informs every policy, every programme and every initiative.

While there is a broad range of critical work being done across government, this evening I want to address the five most urgent tasks at this moment in our history.

These are tasks that will underpin everything that we do this year.

Working together, we must undertake the following tasks:

-    Firstly, we must accelerate inclusive economic growth and create jobs.

-    Secondly, our history demands that we should improve the education system and develop the skills that we need now and into the future.

-    Thirdly, we are duty bound to improve the conditions of life for all South Africans, especially the poor

-    Fourthly, we have no choice but to step up the fight against corruption and state capture.

-    Fifthly, we need to strengthen the capacity of the state to address the needs of the people.

Over the past year, we have focused our efforts on accelerating inclusive growth, significantly increasing levels of investment and putting in place measures to create more jobs.

Last year, our economy was confronted by the reality of a technical recession. 

Government responded with an economic stimulus and recovery plan that re-directed public funding to areas with the greatest potential for growth and job creation.

Our approach was not to spend our way out of our economic troubles, but to set the economy on a path of recovery.

We introduced a range of measures to ignite economic activity, restore investor confidence, support employment and address the urgent challenges that affect the lives of vulnerable members of our society.

We are pleased to report that significant progress has been made in restoring policy certainty on mining regulation and the visa regime, crafting the path towards mobile spectrum allocation, and reviewing port, rail and electricity prices.

We also began the process of stabilising and supporting 57 municipalities, where over 10,000 municipal infrastructure projects are being implemented.

The focus we have placed on revamping industrial parks in townships and rural areas has brought about discernible change, as industrial parks that have been lying idle are becoming productive again.

We have so far completed the revitalisation of 10 out of 16 identified industrial parks, in places such as Botshabelo, Phuthaditjhaba, Garankuwa, Isithebe, Komani and Seshego.

The levels of growth that we need to make significant gains in job creation will not be possible without massive new investment.

The inaugural South Africa Investment Conference in October last year provided great impetus to our drive to mobilise R1.2 trillion in investment over five years.

The Investment Conference attracted around R300 billion in investment pledges from South African and international companies.

There was also a significant increase in foreign direct investment last year.

In 2017, we recorded an inflow of foreign direct investment amounting to R17 billion.

Official data shows that just in the first three quarters of 2018, there was an inflow of R70 billion.

This is a phenomenal achievement compared to the low level of investment in the previous years.

Our investment envoys – Trevor Manuel, Mcebisi Jonas, Phumzile Langeni and Jacko Maree – as well as InvestSA are closely monitoring the status of the investments announced at the Investment Conference.

To prove that our investment conference was not just a talk shop where empty promises were made, as we speak, projects to the value of R187 billion are being implemented, and projects worth another R26 billion are in pre-implementation phase.

Drawing on the valuable lessons we’ve learnt, through a more focused effort, and through the improvements we’re making in the business environment, we aim to raise even more investment this year.

We will be identifying the sectors and firms we want and need in South Africa and actively attract investors.

Based on our experiences over the past year, and to build on the momentum achieved, we will host the South Africa Investment Conference again this year. 

It is our intention that the investment we generate should be spread out in projects throughout the country.

In this regard, I have asked provincial governments to identify investable projects and ensure that we build investment books for each of our nine provinces to present to potential investors.

Following our successful Investment Conference, a group of South African business leaders moved by the spirit of Thuma Mina initiated the Public-Private Growth Initiative to facilitate focused investment plans of leading companies across 19 sectors of the economy, from mining to renewable energy, from manufacturing to agriculture.

These industries expect to substantially expand investment over the next five years and create a vast number of new jobs, especially if we can enhance demand for local goods, further stabilise the labour environment and improve conditions for doing business.

As part of our ongoing work to remove constraints to greater investment, we have established a team from the Presidency, Invest SA, National Treasury and the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation that will address the policy, legal, regulatory and administrative barriers that frustrate investors.

This is an important aspect of our work to improve the ease of doing business in South Africa, which is essential to attracting investment.

This team will report progress to Cabinet on a monthly basis.

The World Bank’s annual Doing Business Report currently ranks South Africa 82 out of 190 countries tracked. 

We have set ourselves the target of being among the top 50 global performers within the next 3 years.

It has long been recognised that one of the constraints that inhibit the growth of our economy is the high level of economic concentration.

The structure of our economy was designed to keep assets in a few hands.

This has stifled growth and enterprise and has to a large extent kept many young South African entrepreneurs and small enterprises out of the economy or confine them to the margins.

As part of our efforts to increase investment, and to foster greater inclusion and create more opportunities, I will soon sign into law the Competition Amendment Bill.

This will give the competition authorities the ability to address this problem but more importantly it will open up new opportunities for many South Africans to enter various sectors of the economy and compete on an equal footing.

To stimulate growth in the economy, to build more businesses and employ more people, we need to find new and larger markets for our goods and services.

We will therefore be focusing greater attention on expanding exports.

In line with Jobs Summit commitments, we will focus on the export of manufactured goods and trade in services such as business process outsourcing and the remote delivery of medical services.

We will also be looking at establishing special economic zones that are dedicated to producing specific types of products, such as clothing and textiles, for example.

To improve the competitiveness of our exports, we will complete the studies that have begun on reducing the costs of electricity, trade, communications, transport and other costs.

We will focus on raising the sophistication of our exports.

The agreement on the establishment of African Continental Free Trade Area offers great opportunities to place South Africa on a path of investment-led trade, and to work with other African countries to develop their own industrial capacity. 

The agreement will see the creation of a market of over a billion people with a combined GDP of approximately $3.3 trillion.

Alongside a focus on exports, we will pursue measures to increase local demand through, among other things, increasing the proportion of local goods and services procured both by government and the private sector.

Increasing local demand, and reducing the consumption of imports, is important because it increases the opportunities for producers within South Africa to serve a growing market.

Through this we will intensify the “buy South Africa” programme.

Given the key role that small businesses play in stimulating economic activity and employment – and in advancing broad-based empowerment – we are focusing this year on significantly expanding our small business incubation programme.

The incubation programme provides budding entrepreneurs with physical space, infrastructure and shared services, access to specialised knowledge, market linkages, training in the use of new technologies and access to finance.

The incubation programme currently consists of a network of 51 technology business incubators, 10 enterprise supplier development incubators and 14 rapid youth incubators. 

As part of the expansion of this programme, township digital hubs will be established, initially in four provinces, with more to follow.

We expect these hubs to provide most needed entrepreneurial service to small and medium enterprises in the rural areas and townships but more especially to young people who want to start their businesses.

Our greatest challenge is to create jobs for the unemployed of today, while preparing workers for the jobs of tomorrow.

The Presidential Jobs Summit last year resulted in concrete agreements between organised labour, business, community and government. 

These agreements, which are now being implemented by social partners, aim to create 275,000 additional direct jobs every year.

We have come up with great plans, platforms and initiatives through which we continue to draw young people in far greater numbers into productive economic activity through initiatives like the Employment Tax Incentive.

This incentive will be extended for another 10 years.

In addition, we have launched the Youth Employment Service, which is placing unemployed youth in paid internships in companies across the economy. 

We call on all companies, both big and small, to participate in this initiative and thereby contribute not only to building their business but also to building the economy and fostering social cohesion.

Progress is being made in the areas of installation, repair and maintenance jobs, digital and tech jobs like coding and data analytics, as well as global business services.

These enable us to absorb more youth – especially those exiting schools and colleges, and those not in any education, training or employment – into productive economic activity and further work opportunities.

As government, we have decided that the requirement for work experience at entry-level in state institutions will be done away with. 

Our young people need to be given a real head start in the world of work. 

They should not face barriers and hindrances as they seek to find work.

We are focusing our attention, our policies and our programmes on the key parts of the economy that are labour intensive.

These include agriculture, tourism and the ocean economy.

The potential of agriculture in South Africa for job creation and economic growth still remains largely underdeveloped.

South Africa still has large areas of underutilised or unproductive land. 

There are around 250,000 small emerging farmers who are working the land and need support in fully developing their businesses.

Agricultural exports are an important source of revenue for our economy, and developing our agricultural sector is key to enhancing our food security and for attracting investment. 

We are fortunate to have an agricultural sector that is well-developed, resilient and diversified. 

We intend to use it as a solid foundation to help develop agriculture in our country for the benefit of all.

Through an accelerated programme of land reform, we will work to expand our agricultural output and promote economic inclusion.

Our policy and legislative interventions will ensure that more land is made available for agriculture, industrial development and human settlements.

I wish to commend the many South Africans who participated in the work of the Constitutional Review Committee in the dialogue that ensued through the length and the breadth of the country. 

I applaud the members of the Constitutional Review Committee for remaining focused throughout this period and sifting through the submissions that were made by ordinary South Africans and their organisations. 

We will support the work of the Constitutional Review Committee tasked with the review of Section 25 of the Constitution to unambiguously set out provisions for expropriation of land without compensation. 

Alongside this constitutional review process we tasked the Deputy President to lead the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Land Reform to fast-track land reform.

An advisory panel of experts headed by Dr Vuyo Mahlathi, established to advise government on its land reform programme, is expected to table its report by the end of March 2019.

As part of accelerating land reform, we have identified land parcels owned by the state for redistribution.

Strategically located land will be released to address human settlements needs in urban and peri-urban areas. 

As part of the stimulus package in agriculture, we have invested significantly in comprehensive farmer development support to ensure that restituted and communal land is productively utilised.

We will continue to prioritise targeted skills development and capacity building programmes for smallholder and emerging black farmers. 

In the coming year, we will continue to focus on high value agricultural products with export potential such as our fruit, wine and vegetable industries, as well as poultry and red meat.

During SONA last year, we spoke at length about the huge potential that exists for the expansion of the tourism sector.

Our concerted efforts to market South Africa as a prime destination for tourists has yielded positive results, with significant annual growth in the number of foreign visitors.

In the past year we had 10 million tourists who came to our country. 

We intend to raise this to 21 million by 2030, targeting, among others, the largest and fastest growing markets of India and China, as well as strong markets on our continent.

In addition to direct jobs, this export industry could generate as many as 2 million more jobs in food and agriculture, construction, transport, retail, and the creative and cultural industries by 2030. 

We will deepen the partnership between government and business to realise this vision.

Our highest priority this year will be on the introduction of a world class eVisa regime. 

This, combined with enhanced destination marketing and measures to strengthen tourism safety, will create the conditions for the growth we envisage, and the jobs and opportunities that will follow.

Our beautiful country, South Africa has one of the world’s longest coastlines spanning 3,000 km around the contours of our country from the east to the west. 

Our mere positioning as a country means we can harness the potential of our oceans to grow the economy.

Since the Operation Phakisa on the Oceans Economy in 2014, we have secured investments of nearly R30 billion and created over 7,000 direct jobs.

The investments have been mainly in infrastructure development, marine manufacturing, aquaculture, and the oil and gas sector.

Expected investment in the Oceans Economy over the next five years is estimated at R3.8 billion by government and R65 billion by the private sector.

These investments are expected to create over 100,000 direct jobs and more than 250,000 indirect jobs.

Last night I received a call from Minister Gwede Mantashe when he told me that the oil giant Total would be making a big announcement today about a new “world-class” oil and gas discovery off the coast of South Africa. 

We are extremely encouraged by the report this morning about the Brulpadda block in the Outeniqua Basin, which some have described as a catalytic find.

This could well be a game-changer for our country and will have significant consequences for our country’s energy security and the development of this industry.

We congratulate Total and its various partners and wish them well in their endeavours. 

Government will continue to develop legislation for the sector so that it is properly regulated for the interests of all concerned.

Over the past five years, we made significant progress with the provision of infrastructure. 

More than R1.3 trillion has been invested to build hundreds of schools and two new universities, to build hundreds of thousands of new houses, to electrify more than a million homes, generate new electricity and to expand public transport. 

These infrastructure investments also helped grow our economy and create many new jobs in construction and other sectors. 

Infrastructure development has been flywheel of the engine of our economy and has yielded tremendous benefits for the country. 

We must do more. 

Our infrastructure development has slowed down for a whole number of reasons. 

We have also realised that our infrastructure provision is too fragmented between the different spheres of government. 

It does not fully integrate new housing development with economic opportunities and with the building of dams, water pipelines, schools and other amenities. 

Cabinet has adopted a new infrastructure implementation model to address these problems.

It will be underpinned by the new Infrastructure Fund announced in September last year.

Government has committed to contribute R100 billion into the Infrastructure Fund over a 10 year period and use this to leverage financing from the private sector and development finance institutions.
 
As a first step, we will expand projects underway already, such as student accommodation. 

We plan to do things differently, starting with a deeper partnership with our communities in the planning, building and maintenance of infrastructure.

Just as we did with the Vaal River, where the SANDF intervened to address a sewage crisis, we will call on all the capabilities of the state and the private sector to address infrastructure challenges. 

We will strengthen the technical capacity in government to ensure that projects move faster, building a pool of engineers, project managers, spatial planners and quantity surveyors – an action team that can make things happen faster on the ground.

The telecommunications sector represents vast potential for boosting economic growth.

The Minister of Communications will shortly be issuing policy direction to ICASA for the licensing of the high demand radio frequency spectrum. 

As a water scarce country, we are confronting water crises in many parts of the country.

We are developing a comprehensive integrated nation plan that addresses water shortages, ageing infrastructure and poor project implementation.

We are urgently establishing an inter-governmental rapid response technical team, reinforced by specialist professionals, to intervene in areas which are experiencing severe water problems.

In one of these areas, Giyani, extensive work is underway to get water to the residents, in the immediate term through the repair of boreholes, and then through the rapid provision of proper infrastructure.

The safety of our learners in school is critical for creating a healthy, learning environment.

We recall with deep sadness the tragic deaths of Michael Komape, who drowned in a pit toilet at Mahlodumela Primary School in Limpopo in 2014, and Lumka Mkethwa, from Luna Junior Primary School in the Eastern Cape, who lost her life in March last year.

We conducted an audit last year and found that nearly 4,000 schools still have inappropriate sanitation facilities.

Given the scale and urgency of the problem, we launched the SAFE Initiative in August last year, through which we mobilised all available resources, including pledges from business, strategic partners, and the building industry to replace all unsafe toilets in public schools.

Since we launched the initiative, 699 schools have been provided with safe and appropriate sanitation facilities and projects in a further 1,150 schools are either in planning, design or construction stages.

We are determined to eradicate unsafe and inappropriate sanitation facilities within the next three years. 

This is an outstanding example of collaboration between government and business to address with urgency a great need that impacts on the right of South Africa’s children to safety and dignity in educational facilities.

We are making important progress in restoring the integrity and capacity of our strategic state owned enterprises.

To restore proper corporate governance, new boards with credible, appropriately experienced and ethical directors, have been appointed at Eskom, Denel, Transnet, SAFCOL, PRASA and SA Express.

We have established the Presidential SOE Council, which will provide political oversight and strategic management in order to reform, reposition and revitalise state owned enterprises, so they play their role as catalysts of economic growth and development.

We want our SOEs to be fully self-sufficient and be able to fulfil their development and economic role.

Where SOEs are not able to raise sufficient financing from banks, from capital markets, from development finance institutions or from the fiscus, we will need to explore other mechanisms, such as strategic equity partnerships or selling off non-strategic assets. 

As we do all this, we will not support any measures that, in any form, dispose of assets of the state that are strategic to the wellbeing of the economy and the people.

We have the task and the responsibility to safeguard, build and sustain these key institutions for future generations.

We have sought credible plans from boards to put in place the right skills and expertise to manage these companies so that we can shift the focus from immediate stability to long-term sustainability.

We also seek to build a pragmatic and cooperative relationship between government, organised labour and private sector stakeholders, where we can jointly determine a strategic path for SOEs to create jobs, enable inclusive growth and become operationally and financially sustainable.

Security of energy supply is an absolute imperative.

Eskom is in crisis and the risks it poses to South Africa are great.

It could severely damage our economic and social development ambitions.

We need to take bold decisions and decisive action. 

The consequences may be painful, but they will be even more devastating if we delay.

In responding to this crisis, we are informed by the need to minimise any adverse economic cost to the consumer and taxpayer.

As we address the challenges that face Eskom we will ensure that there is meaningful consultation and dialogue with all key stakeholders.
 
We will lead a process with labour, Eskom and other stakeholders to work out the details of a just transition, and proper, credible and sustainable plans that will address the needs of all those who may be affected.

As we address the challenges that face Eskom, we also need to safeguard our national fiscal framework, achieve a positive impact on our sovereign credit rating, and pay attention to the rights and obligations of Eskom’s funders.

Eskom has come up with the nine-point turnaround plan which we support and want to see implemented. 

In line with this plan, Eskom will need to take urgent steps to significantly reduce its costs. 

It will need more revenue through an affordable tariff increase. 

We need to take steps to reduce municipal non-payment and confront the culture of non-payment that exists in some communities.

It is imperative that all those who use electricity – over and above the free basic electricity provided – should pay for it.

Government will support Eskom’s balance sheet, and the Minister of Finance will provide further details on this in the Budget Speech.

This we will do without burdening the fiscus with unmanageable debt.

To ensure the credibility of the turnaround plan and avoid a similar financial crisis in a few years’ time, Eskom will need to develop a new business model.

This business model needs to take into account the root causes of its current crisis and the profound international and local changes in the relative costs, and market penetration of energy resources, especially clean technologies.

It needs to take into account the role that Eskom itself should play in clean generation technologies.

To bring credibility to the turnaround and to position South Africa’s power sector for the future, we shall immediately embark on a process of establishing three separate entities – Generation, Transmission and Distribution – under Eskom Holdings.

This will ensure that we isolate cost and give responsibility to each appropriate entity. 

This will also enable Eskom to be able to raise funding for its various operations much easily from funders and the market.

Of particular and immediate importance is the entity to manage an independent state-owned transmission grid combined with the systems operator and power planning, procurement and buying functions.

It is imperative that we undertake these measures without delay to stabilise Eskom’s finances, ensure security of electricity supply, and establish the basis for long-term sustainability.

At the centre of all our efforts to achieve higher and more equitable growth, to draw young people into employment and to prepare our country for the digital age, must be the prioritisation of education and the development of skills.


With over 700,000 children accessing early childhood education in the last financial year, we have established a firm foundation for a comprehensive ECD programme that is an integral part of the education system.

This year, we will migrate responsibility for ECD centres from Social Development to Basic Education, and proceed with the process towards two years of compulsory ECD for all children before they enter grade 1.

Another critical priority is to substantially improve reading comprehension in the first years of school.

This is essential in equipping children to succeed in education, in work and in life – and it is possibly the single most important factor in overcoming poverty, unemployment and inequality.

The department’s early grade reading studies have demonstrated the impact that a dedicated package of reading resources, expert reading coaches and lesson plans can have on reading outcomes.

We will be substantially expanding the availability of these early reading resources across the foundation phase of schooling.

Over the next six years, we will provide every school child in South Africa with digital workbooks and textbooks on a tablet device.

We will start with those schools that have been historically most disadvantaged and are located in the poorest communities, including multigrade, multiphase, farm and rural schools.

Already, 90% of textbooks in high enrolment subjects across all grades and all workbooks have been digitised. 

In line with our Framework for Skills for a Changing World, we are expanding the training of both educators and learners to respond to emerging technologies including the internet of things, robotics and artificial intelligence.

Several new technology subjects and specialisations will be introduced, including technical mathematics and technical sciences, maritime sciences, aviation studies, mining sciences, and aquaponics.

To expand participation in the technical streams, several ordinary public schools will be transformed into technical high schools.

In line with government’s commitment to the right of access to higher education for the poor, last year we introduced free higher education for qualifying first year students. 

Thanks to this initiative, links have been re-established with all institutions, and institution heads and student leaders have played a critical role in communicating with students.

The scheme is being phased in over a five year period until all undergraduate students who qualify in terms of the criteria can benefit.

Stabilising the business processes of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme will also be a priority in the coming year so that it is properly capacitated to carry out its critical role in supporting eligible students.

We are concerned about developments on some campuses this week, especially reports of violence and intimidation.

Of particular concern, is the tragic death of Mlungisi Madonsela, a student at the Durban University of Technology.

We extend our deepest condolences to his family and call on law enforcement agencies to thoroughly investigate the incident.

We call on student representatives and university authorities to work together to find solutions to the challenges that students are facing.

We will give effect to our commitment to build human settlements in well-located areas that bring together economic opportunities and all the services and amenities that people need.

The Housing Development Agency will construct an additional 500,000 housing units in the next five years, and an amount of R30 billion will be provided to municipalities and provinces to enable them to fulfil their respective mandates.

However, if we are to effectively address the substantial housing backlog in our country, we need to develop different models of financing for human settlements.

It is for this reason that we are establishing a Human Settlements Development Bank that will leverage both public and private sector financing to aid in housing delivery.

We will also be expanding the People’s Housing Programme, where households are allocated serviced stands to build their own houses, either individually or through community-led housing cooperatives. 

South Africa has one of the most comprehensive and far-reaching social security nets in the world, providing a buffer between poor households and abject poverty. 

Every month 17.5 million social grants are provided to South Africans. 

The Department of Social Development is to be commended for having honoured Constitutional Court’s directive for phasing out the services of Cash Paymaster Services. 

To date the majority of grant beneficiaries have been successfully migrated to the South African Post Office, and the old SASSA cards replaced by new ones.

We have made significant progress in devising a Comprehensive Social Security strategy through NEDLAC. 

The reforms focus on achieving comprehensive social security and retirement reform that is affordable, sustainable and appropriate for all South Africans. 

With the assistance of the National Planning Commission, we reached consensus on reforms that include the National Social Security Fund, institutional arrangements, regulatory reforms, improved unemployment benefits, improved social assistance coverage, and active labour market policies for citizens between 18 and 59 years. 

We will now incorporate this consensus agreement into a policy framework to guide implementation.

This year, we will take a significant step towards universal access to quality health care for all South Africans.

After extensive consultation, the NHI Bill will soon be ready for submission to Parliament.

The NHI will enable South Africans to receive free services at the point of care in public and private quality-accredited health facilities.

By applying the principle of social solidarity and cross-subsidisation, we aim to reduce inequality in access to health care. 

Realising the magnitude of the challenges in health care, we have established an NHI and quality improvement War Room in the Presidency consisting of various key departments to address the crisis in the public health system while preparing for the implementation of the NHI. 

We have a funded national quality health improvement plan to improve every clinic and hospital that will be contracted by the NHI. 

By introducing the NHI together with a multi-pronged quality improvement programme for public health facilities, we are working towards a massive change in the health care experience of South Africans.

While we have made progress since 1994 in bringing down certain categories of serious crime, communities across the country are still plagued by gangsterism and violence.

As part of our concerted effort to make our country safer and more secure, the Community Policing Strategy was launched in October last year. 

The strategy focuses on building partnerships between communities and the police; making more resources available for policing and better communication between the police and communities about crime prevention strategies. 

This will enable policemen and women to become more proactive in addressing crime and broader public safety concerns. 

In addition, we are strengthening the functioning of various specialised units such as the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Units and improving our administrative and record keeping capacity at all levels.  

The SAPS has embarked on a restructuring process to shift more policing resources to the local level.

Violence against women and children has reached epidemic proportions.

Every day, South African women are faced with discrimination, abuse, violence and even death, often by those they are closest to.

Over the last year, we have started to address this scourge in a more serious and coordinated way.

At the Presidential Gender-based Violence and Femicide Summit, women from all walks of life came together with government and civil society to outline a road map to end gender-based violence, improve coordination of planning, and establish a commitment to resourcing and accountability.  

Work is underway to implement the decisions of the Summit, including preparing the National Strategic Plan on Gender- Based Violence.

This year, we will work with our partners in civil society to implement the decisions of the National Summit on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide.

We are expanding and dedicating more funds to places of support, such as the Thuthuzela Care Centres and Khuseleka Care Centres. 

We have been working to ensure the better functioning of Sexual Offences Courts.

We will improve the quality of services in shelters and ensure they also accommodate members of the  LGBTQI+ community.

We will strengthen the national hotline centre that supports women who experience gender-based violence and ensure it is functional.

We have listened to the call to make funds available to combat gender-based violence, and have allocated funding in the current budget to support the decisions taken at the Summit.

Government will lead the campaign to include men and boys as active champions in the struggle against gender-based violence.

Ending gender-based violence is an urgent national priority that requires the mobilisation of all South Africans and the involvement of all institutions.

South Africa has extremely high levels of substance abuse, which feeds crime and violence against women and children, it deepens poverty and causes great hardship and pain for families.

As government we continue to roll-out interventions to address social ills tearing our communities apart such as alcoholism and substance abuse.

Knowing as we do that there are strong linkages between substance abuse, drug trafficking, crime and insecurity in communities – we are focusing on tackling this problem at its source through prevention programmes targeting vulnerable persons especially our youth. 

We are resolute that all taverns, shebeens and liquour outlets near school premises must be shut down.

We recognise, as do all South Africans, that our greatest efforts to end poverty, unemployment and inequality will achieve little unless we tackle state capture and corruption in all its manifestations and in all areas of public life.

The action we take now to end corruption and hold those responsible to account will determine the pace and trajectory of the radical social and economic transformation we seek.

The revelations emerging from the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into state capture and other commissions are deeply disturbing, for they reveal a breadth and depth of criminal wrongdoing that challenges the very foundation of our democratic state.

We commend these commissions for the work they are doing, often under challenging circumstances, to uncover the truth.

These commissions need to be able to do their work without any hindrance, and we call on all those people who are in a position to assist them in their investigations to make themselves available.

While these Commissions will in time make findings and recommendations in line with their mandates, evidence of criminal activity that emerges must be evaluated by the criminal justice system.

Where there is a basis to prosecute, prosecutions must follow swiftly and stolen public funds must be recovered urgently.

To this end, we have agreed with the new National Director of Public Prosecutions, that there is an urgent need to establish in the office of the NDPP an investigating directorate dealing with serious corruption and associated offences, in accordance with section 7 of the NPA Act.

I will soon be promulgating a Proclamation that will set out the specific terms of reference of the Directorate.

In broad terms, the Directorate will focus on the evidence that has emerged from the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into State Capture, other commissions and disciplinary inquiries. 

It will identify priority cases to investigate and prosecute and will recover assets identified to be the proceeds of corruption.

The Directorate will bring together a range of investigatory and prosecutorial capacity from within government and in the private sector under an investigating director reporting to the NDPP. 

In the longer term, we will work with the NPA and other agencies of law enforcement to develop a more enduring solution that will strengthen the capacity of the criminal justice system to deal with corruption. 

Fellow South Africans,

As we grapple with the challenges of our recent past, and as we deepen our efforts to overcome the grave injustices of centuries, it is essential that we do so with our eyes firmly fixed on the future.

The world we now inhabit is changing at a pace and in a manner that is unprecedented in human history.

Revolutionary advances in technology are reshaping the way people work and live.

They are transforming the way people relate to each other, the way societies function and the way they are governed.

The devastating effects of global warming on our climate are already being felt, with extreme weather conditions damaging livelihoods, communities and economies.

As a young nation, only 25 years into our democracy, we are faced with a stark choice.

It is a choice between being overtaken by technological change or harnessing it to serve our developmental aspirations.

It is a choice between entrenching inequality or creating shared prosperity through innovation.

Unless we adapt, unless we understand the nature of the profound change that is reshaping our world, and unless we readily embrace the opportunities it presents, the promise of our nation’s birth will forever remain unfulfilled.

Today, we choose to be a nation that is reaching into the future.

In doing so, we are building on a platform of extraordinary scientific achievement.

The successful construction in the Northern Cape of the MeerKAT telescope, the world’s largest and most sensitive radio telescope, and the development of the Square Kilometre Array has enabled South Africa to develop capabilities in areas such as space observation, advanced engineering and supercomputing.

These skills and capabilities are being used to build HERA, a radio telescope designed to detect, for the first time, the distinctive radio signal from the very first stars and galaxies that formed early in the life of the universe.

This is not merely about advancing human understanding of the origins of the universe – it is about responding to the challenges that face South Africans now and into the future.

It is about developing the technology and the capabilities that will build a dynamic and competitive economy that creates decent, sustainable jobs.

It is about enhanced food security, better disease management, and cheaper, cleaner and more efficient energy.

It is about smart human settlements and social development solutions built around people’s needs and preferences. 

It is about smarter, more responsive, more effective governance.

To ensure that we effectively and with greater urgency harness technological change in pursuit of inclusive growth and social development, I have appointed a Presidential Commission on the 4th Industrial Revolution.

Comprised of eminent persons drawn from different sectors of society, the Commission will serve as a national overarching advisory mechanism on digital transformation.

It will identify and recommend policies, strategies and plans that will position South Africa as a global competitive player within the digital revolution space.

Building on the work we have done over the last year, we will focus on further strengthening the capacity of the state.

We have made progress in examining the size and structure of the state, and will complete this work by the end of this administration.

We invite all South Africans to make suggestions on how we can better configure government to serve the needs and the interests of the people. 

In improving the capabilities of public servants, the National School of Government is introducing a suite of compulsory courses, covering areas like ethics and anti-corruption, senior management and supply chain management, and deployment of managers to the coal face to strengthen service delivery.

We will process the operationalisation of section 8 of the Public Administration and Management Act, which strengthens the outlawing of public servants doing business with the state and enable government to deal more effectively with corrupt activities.

This provision will see the imposition of harsher penalties, including fines and/or prison sentences for officials that transgress. 

The Ethics, Integrity and Disciplinary Technical Assistance Unit will be established to strengthen management of ethics and anti-corruption and ensure consequence management for breaches of government processes.

Fellow South Africans,

South Africa has this year taken up a non-permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council.

We will use this position to advance peace on the continent and across the globe, taking forward Nelson Mandela’s vision of a peaceful, stable and just world.

Fellow South Africans,

In a few months time, South Africans will go to the polls for the sixth time in our democracy to vote for national and provincial governments.

This is an opportunity for our people to exercise their hard-won right to determine the direction of this country.

I have engaged with the Independent Electoral Commission and also with the Premiers of all provinces, and intend to proclaim the 8th of May 2019 as the date of the election.

We wish to remind all eligible South Africans who have not yet registered as voters that they still have until the proclamation of the election date to register.

Fellow South Africans,

We are a people of resilience, of determination and of optimism. 

Despite the worst excesses of apartheid, we did not descend into vengeance when our freedom was won. 

Our democracy has blossomed and flourished, nurtured by the goodwill of the men and women of this great land, who understand only too well at what cost it was attained. 

But the road towards true freedom is a long one, and we have seen divisions in our society grow. 

Between black and white, rich and the poor, between rural and urban, between the sexes, and between language groups and cultures. 

At times it has seemed that the milk of human kindness that allowed us to reconcile in 1994, had gone sour.

But we will not surrender to the forces of pessimism and defeatism. 

Our society is anchored in the roots of tolerance and co-existence, and we stand firm, resolute and united against all and everything that seeks to divide us or destroy our hard-won gains.

They told us building a non-racial South Africa was impossible, and that we would never be able to truly heal from our bitter past. 

Yet we weathered the storm, and we are prevailing.

It was the eternal optimism of the human spirit that kept hopes alive during our darkest time. 

It is this optimism that will carry us forward as we face a brave new future.

It is a South Africa in which every man, woman and child is provided with the opportunity and means to make a better life for themselves. 

It is a South Africa ready to take advantage of the technological changes sweeping the globe to make our economy grow and create jobs for our people.

It is a South Africa whose people have vision, drive and ambition; making it a hub of innovation, entrepreneurship and enterprise.

It is a South Africa that acknowledges the problems of the past, but looks firmly to the future.

It is a South Africa whose leaders are bold and courageous, leaders who remain servants of the people – and for whom fulfilling their duty is the highest, and the only, reward.

Above all, it is a South Africa of which we are all proud, of what we have achieved and of where we hope to be. 

The task before us is formidable.

Above everything else, we must get our economy working again.

I call upon every South African to make this cause your own. 

Because when we succeed – and of this we are certain – it is the entire nation that will benefit.

As government, as business, as labour and as citizens, let us unite to embrace tomorrow. 

Let us grasp our collective future with both hands, in the immortal words of the Freedom Charter: side by side, sparing neither strength nor courage.

This task – of building a better South Africa - is our collective task as a nation, as the people of South Africa. 

As we approach these tasks and challenges, we should heed the word of Theodore Roosevelt, who said:

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. 

“The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

We all have a role to play as individual South Africans, faith-based organisations, sports organisations, trade unions, business, students, academics and citizens

Let us continue to embrace the spirit of citizen activism in line with the injunction, Thuma Mina, in the onward march towards equality, freedom and prosperity for all. 

I thank you.

7 February 2019 - 12:00am

Cape Town - The Presidency has noted comments by the DA’s Pieter Van Dalen questioning the role of Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa in leading the Eskom War Room.

Deputy President Ramaphosa was appointed by Cabinet to lead an Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) to address electricity challenges facing the country.

Deputy President Ramaphosa’s work in the Eskom War Room is guided by none other than Cabinet’s five- point plan.

The Office of Deputy President reiterates that Deputy President Ramaphosa has divested his financial interests in the Shanduka Group following his assumption of office. Consequently, Deputy President Ramaphosa holds no mining interests.

For more information contact Ronnie Mamoepa on 082 990 4853.

Issued by: The Presidency

Pretoria

Johannesburg - Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa will at the invitation of Gauteng Premier David Makhura, address the Gauteng Provincial Government’s Inter-Faith Prayer Day at Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg on Sunday 24 May 2015. The theme of the event is ‘stamp out   xenophobia! We are Africa! One peaceful, integrated and prosperous society.

According to the provincial government, the event is “part of Gauteng’s ongoing effort to bring peace, stability, unity and tolerance among communities and foreign nationals who have chosen our country as their home’. The event is also expected to be addressed by Minister of Arts and Culture Nathi Mthethwa and leaders of various faith-based communities.

Media is invited as follows:

Date: Sunday 24 May 2015

Time: 12h00-16h00

Venue: Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg

For more information call Ronnie Mamoepa on 082 990 4853 or Terrence Manase on 082 338 6707.

Issued by: The Presidency

Pretoria