PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday outlined in his State of the Nation Address (SONA), providing a plan to grow the economy and create jobs.
Ramaphosa said the urgent task of the Government of National Unity, which adopted the medium term development plan, is to grow the economy to create jobs, reduce poverty and improve the lives of all South Africans.
“To create this virtuous cycle of investment, growth and jobs, we must lift economic growth to above three percent.
“To achieve higher levels of economic growth we are undertaking massive investment in new infrastructure while upgrading and maintaining the infrastructure we have,” he said.
Ramaphosa also said they were developing innovative ways of funding infrastructure.
“We are engaging local and international financial institutions and investors to unlock R100 billion in infrastructure financing.”
A project preparation bid window has been launched to fast track investment readiness.
“Government will spend more than R940 billion on infrastructure over the next three years. This includes R375 billion in spending by state owned companies. This funding will revitalise our roads and bridges, build dams and waterways, modernise our ports and airports and power our economy.”
He said through the Infrastructure Fund, 12 blended finance projects worth nearly R38 billion have been approved in the last year.
Ramaphosa also said the government will this year finalise a modernised and comprehensive industrial policy that drives economic growth.
“We will achieve this ambition by focusing on the opportunities in localisation, diversification, digitisation and decarbonisation.”
He added that they were working towards the full implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area.
“As the most industrialised economy in Africa, we are positioning ourselves to be at the centre of this new and growing market,” he said.
Ramaphosa also said working together with business, labour and other social partners they must now finish the work on economic reforms implemented through Operation Vulindlela.
“Over the coming year, we will initiate a second wave of reform to unleash more rapid and inclusive growth. Our immediate focus is to enable Eskom, Transnet and other state-owned enterprises that are vital to our economy to function optimally.”
He said the government was repositioning the SOEs to provide world-class infrastructure while enabling competition in operations, whether in electricity generation, freight rail or port terminals.
“We continue with the fundamental reform of our state owned enterprises to ensure that they can effectively fulfil their social and economic mandates. This includes the work under way to put in place a new model to strengthen governance and oversight of public entities. “
He, however, stated that they will ensure public ownership of strategic infrastructure for public benefit while finding innovative ways to attract private investment to improve services and ensure public revenue to be focused on the provision of public services.
“We are in the process of establishing a dedicated SOE Reform Unit to coordinate this work.”
Ramaphosa said there was a need to put the risk of load shedding behind us once and for all by completing the reform of the energy system to ensure long-term energy security.
“This year, we will put in place the building blocks of a competitive electricity market.
“Over time, this will allow multiple electricity generation entities to emerge and compete. We will mobilise the private sector investment in our transmission network to connect more renewable energy to the grid.”
The president also said the Just Energy Transition was gaining momentum with over 13 billion US dollars pledged by the international community and significant private capital being invested locally.
“We are determined to meet our carbon reduction commitments, and will do so at a pace and scale that our country can afford.”
Ramaphosa said the revitalising of the port terminals and rail corridors through the Freight Logistics Roadmap was leveraging private capital to restore them to world class standards.
“Open access to the rail network will allow train operating companies to increase the volume of goods transported by rail, while our network infrastructure remains state owned.
“This will ensure that South African minerals, vehicles and agricultural produce reach international markets, securing jobs and earning much needed revenue for our fiscus.”
Ramaphosa said they were on track to implement a new, modern and transparent mining rights system this year to unlock investment in exploration and production.
“We will put in place an enabling policy and regulatory framework for critical minerals. By beneficiating these minerals here in South Africa, we can make use of the extraordinary wealth that lies beneath our soil for the benefit of our people.”
He also said the government will set up a transformation fund worth R20 billion a year over the next five years to fund black-owned and small business enterprises.
“We will fast-track the regulations of the Public Procurement Act to ensure businesses owned by women, youth and persons with disabilities receive equitable opportunities in government contracts.”
