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SONA2021: We must save lives, Ramaphosa says

By Sunday World

Johannesburg – South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, delivered his State Of the Nation Address (SONA) to the country in parliament on Thursday evening.

The president opened his address with a theme of redemption and rebirth. Ramaphosa went on to explain the grim statistics that the coronavirus pandemic wreaked on the country in the past year.


The president said that 4 things will be focused on, in this year’s SONA.

“First we must defeat the coronavirus pandemic. Second, we must accelerate our economic recovery. Third, we must economic reforms, to drive inclusive growth. and finally, we must fight corruption and strengthen the state that has been weakened,” Ramaphosa said.

Ramaphosa went on to say that  the second wave of Covid-19 was more severe and it cost many more lives than the first wave.

“Nevertheless, the human cost could have been far greater. Had we not acted, and had South Africans not acted, this devastation could have been far, far worse,” Ramaphosa said.

VACCINES 

“This year we must intensify prevention efforts and strengthen our healthcare system. We must embark on a massive vaccination drive to save lives,” Ramaphosa said.

“Earlier this year, we learnt that the new Astra-Zeneca vaccine provides minimal protection to mild cases of the new variant. We applaud our scientists for leading new research. Since this variant is now the dominant variant in our country, this finding has significance for our programme. It will affect the choice of vaccine and the manner of their deployment.”

Ramaphosa further said, “We have secured 9 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The first batch, of 80,000 doses, will arrive in the country next week. The success of the vaccination programme will rely on active collaboration between all sectors of society.”

“The success of the vaccination programme will rely on active collaboration between all sectors of society.”

OTHER BATTLES

“But it is not just this disease that we must defeat. We must overcome poverty and hunger, joblessness and inequality,” Ramaphosa said during his address.

Ramaphosa said that SA must overcome a legacy of exclusion and dispossession that continues to impoverish SA citizens, and ‘which this pandemic has severely worsened.’

“Poverty is on the rise. Inequality is deepening. There were 1.7 million fewer people employed in the third quarter of 2020 than there were in the first quarter, before the pandemic struck. Our unemployment rate now stands at a staggering 30.8%.”

“As a result of the relief measures that we implemented and the phased reopening of the economy, we expect to see a strong recovery in employment by the end of 2020,” Ramaphosa said.

ECONOMIC RECOVERY PLAN

Ramaphosa said that the four pillars of the plan included, infrastructure, increase in local production, employment stimulus, rapid expansion of energy generation capacity.

“To date, more than R57 billion in wage support has been paid to over 4.5 million workers through the Special UIF TERS scheme. More than R1.3 billion has been provided in support mainly for small- and medium-sized businesses,” Ramaphosa said.

“Since the announcement of the Reconstruction and Recovery Plan, we have launched two major human settlements projects that will provide homes to almost 68,000 households in the Gauteng province,” Ramaphosa said.

“The Lanseria Smart City, the first new city to be built in a democratic South Africa, is now a reality in the making. The draft masterplan for this smart city – which will become home to between 350,000 to 500,000 people within the next decade – was completed in November 2020 and is now out for public comment,” Ramaphosa further stated.

BUYING LOCAL

Ramaphosa boasted that the suit he is wearing was made by South Africans, and emphasized how important it is for citizens and businesses to support local industry.

“In the State of the Nation Address last year, I said that our vision for industrialisation is underpinned by sector master plans to rejuvenate and grow key industries,” Ramaphosa said.

Ramaphosa further said, “The second priority intervention of the Recovery Plan is to support a massive increase in local production and to make South African exports globally competitive.”

“All social partners who participated in the development of the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan as part of our social compact have agreed to work together to reduce our reliance on imports by 20% over the next five years.”

“They have identified 42 products – ranging from edible oils to furniture, fruit concentrates, personal protective equipment, steel products and green economy inputs – that can be sourced locally. If we achieve our target, we will significantly expand our productive economy, potentially returning more than R200 billion to the country’s annual output. Last year, we undertook to create a larger market for small businesses and designate 1,000 locally produced products that must be procured from SMMEs. As the COVID-19 pandemic forced the closure of global value chains, we have been able to speed up this initiative as the local supply chains became open for locally manufactured products,” Ramaphosa said.

SMMEs

“Last year, we undertook to create a larger market for small businesses and designate 1,000 locally produced products that must be procured from SMMEs.”

As the COVID-19 pandemic forced the closure of global value chains, we have been able to speed up this initiative as the local supply chains became open for locally manufactured products.”

“Through the implementation of the poultry master plan, the industry has invested R800 million to upgrade production. South Africa now produces an additional one million chickens every week.”

“The sugar master plan was signed during the lockdown, with a commitment from large users of sugar to procure at least 80% of their sugar needs from local growers.”

“Through the implementation of the plan, last year saw a rise in local production and a decline in imported sugar, creating stability for an industry which employs some 85,000 workers.”

“Since the signing of the clothing, textile, footwear and leather masterplan in November 2019, the industry has invested more than half a billion rand to expand local manufacturing facilities, including SMMEs.”

“We have worked closely with the auto sector to help it weather the pandemic. By the end of the year, the sector had recovered around 70% of its normal annual production.”

“Last week, the Ford Motor Company announced a R16-billion investment to expand their manufacturing facility in Tshwane for the next generation Ford Ranger bakkie.”

“This year, we will begin to harness the opportunities presented by the African Continental Free Trade Area, which came into operation on the 1st of January following the adoption of the Johannesburg Declaration by the African Union.”

EMPLOYMENT

“The largest numbers of jobs will be created by the private sector in a number of industries as the economy recovers. The public sector has a responsibility to stimulate job creation, both through its policies and through direct job creation opportunities.”

ENERGY GENERATION CAPACITY

The president said that restoring Eskom is essential to the work that the government needs to do.

Ramaphosa said that Eskom is making substantial progress.

Ramaphosa said, “Restoring Eskom to operational and financial health and accelerating its restructuring process is central to this objective. Eskom has been restructured into three separate entities for generation, transmission and distribution.”

“Recent analysis suggests that easing the licensing requirements for new embedded generation projects could unlock up to 5,000 megawatts of additional capacity and help to ease the impact of load shedding,” Ramaphosa further stated.

Ramaphosa said, “Eskom has already started work to expedite its commercial and technical processes to allow this additional capacity onto the grid without undue delay.”

“As we mobilise all of the resources at our disposal to support economic recovery, we cannot lose sight of the threat that climate change poses to our environmental health, socio-economic development and economic growth.”

“Eskom, our largest greenhouse gas emitter, has committed in principle to net zero emissions by 2050 and to increase its renewable capacity.”

“Our work on climate change will be guided by the Presidential Coordinating Commission on Climate Change, which is meeting for the first time this month.”

“The Commission will work on a plan for a just transition to a low-carbon economy and climate resilient society.”

OPERATION VULINDELA

“Work is underway with the relevant departments to reform our visa and immigration regime to attract skills and grow the tourism sector,” Ramaphosa said.

AGRICULTURE 

“The mandates of all SOEs are being re-evaluated to ensure that they are responsive to the country’s needs.”

“In 2020, we became the world’s second-largest exporter of citrus, with strong export growth in wine, maize, nuts, deciduous fruit and sugar cane.”

“The favourable weather conditions in 2020 and the beginning of 2021 mean that agriculture is likely to grow in the near term. This provides an opportunity for further public-private partnership in agriculture to promote transformation and ensure sustainable growth,” Ramaphosa said.

“It is an opportunity to accelerate land redistribution through a variety of instruments such as land restitution, expropriation of land in order to boost agricultural output.”

“To date, government has redistributed over 5 million hectares of land, totalling around 5,500 farms, to more than 300,000 beneficiaries.”

“We are also pursuing programmes to assist smallholder and emerging farmers with market access, to develop skills across the entire agricultural value chain.”

ACCOUNTABILITY 

“In October last year, I signed off on Ministerial Performance Agreements with all Ministers, which have now been published online,” Ramaphosa said.

“This will enhance accountability and focused performance by members of the executive. We remain on course to build a capable and professional civil service that delivers on its mandate and is accountable to the South African people. Government is implementing a range of measures to support municipalities to address inadequate and inconsistent service delivery in areas such as water provision, infrastructure build and maintenance,” the president stated.

“We are focusing on the appointment of properly qualified officials at a local level to ensure effective management and provision of services.”

 

ANTI CORRUPTION STRATEGY 

“Corruption is one of the greatest impediments to the country’s growth and development,” the president said.

The revelations from the Zondo Commission of Inquiry lay bare the extent of state capture and related corruption.  Testimony at the Commission has shown how the criminal justice system was compromised and weakened,” Ramaphosa said.

“We have started implementation of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy, which lays the basis for a comprehensive and integrated society-wide response to corruption,” the president announced.

“We will shortly be appointing the members of the National Anti-Corruption Advisory Council, which is a multi-sectoral body that will oversee the the establishment of an independent anti-corruption body that reports to Parliament.”

“When reports started to surface last year about possible fraud and corruption in the procurement of COVID-related goods and services, we acted decisively to put a stop to these practices.”

“We established a fusion centre, which brings together key law enforcement agencies to share information and resources.”

“The Fusion Centre has brought many cases to trial and preserved or recovered millions of rands in public funds,” Ramaphosa said.

“We established a fusion centre, which brings together key law enforcement agencies to share information and resources. The Fusion Centre has brought many cases to trial and preserved or recovered millions of rands in public funds. The Special Investigating Unit was authorised to investigate allegations of unlawful conduct with respect to COVID procurement by all state bodies during the National State of Disaster.  As it reported last week, the SIU has finalised investigations into 164 contracts with a total value of R3.5-billion.”

“Crimes like cable theft, railway infrastructure vandalism, land invasions, construction site disruptions and attacks on truck drivers hamper economic activity and discourage investment.  Task teams have been set up in a number of provinces to deal with extortion and violence on sites of economic activity,” Ramaphosa said.

GENDER BASED VIOLENCE 

“Last year, I made a promise to the women and children of this country, that we were going to strengthen the criminal justice system to prevent them being traumatised again, and to ensure that perpetrators face justice,” Ramaphosa said.

We continue to provide care and support to survivors of gender-based violence. To ensure that perpetrators are brought to book, we are making progress in reducing the backlog of gender-based violence cases,” Ramaphosa stated.

“In the State of the Nation Address last year, I said that we would prioritise the economic empowerment of women. Cabinet approved a policy that 40% of public procurement should go to women-owned businesses. Last week we also launched a groundbreaking private sector-led GBVF Response Fund. Several South African companies and global philanthropies made pledges to the value of R128 million,” Ramaphosa said.

We need to give attention to issues affecting children including improving school-readiness, ECD planning and funding and protection against preventable diseases. In the year ahead we are also going to forge ahead with efforts to provide greater opportunities for persons with disabilities,” Ramaphosa said.

“As we rebuild our economy in the midst of a pandemic, it is necessary that we continue – within our means – to provide support to those businesses and individuals that continue to be most affected. We have decided to extend the period for the Special COVID-19 Grant of R350 by a further three months.”

Ramaphosa concluded his SONA by saying, “People of South Africa, it is your country that calls on you to rise. Let us march forward together to equality, to dignity and to recovery. May God bless our beautiful country and protect her sons and daughters.”

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