WITH record high levels of unemployment and stagnant economic growth, much of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of Union Speech focused on the economy and employment – two of the most pressing issues for South Africans
Dr Mlamuli Hlatshwayo, a political analyst and a lecturer at the University of KwaZulu-Natal School of Education shared his view of the president’s speech and what it meant to the average citizen.
“The biggest challenge was that all of his talk was quite broad, he did not specify what funding mechanisms are available to tackle any of the problems he raised. Nothing on graduate unemployment, water and education. It was a very broad language so as a regular person on the ground there was nothing there to inspire you and make you feel confident that the president is taking your problems to heart,” he said.
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Hlatshwayo said the issue of power supply is directly linked to the economy, employment and future investments.
“With regards to Eskom, it’s good that municipalities are going to be allowed to source electricity from Independent Power Producers, this would lessen a lot of dependency on Eskom, but of course if you are coming from a poor performing, rural community, then this option is not available to you.
IPP’s are going to benefit businesses a lot, meaning they won’t have to rely on Eskom which might stimulate the economy by bringing in new players to the energy grid. A reliable electricity supply can only help in creating new opportunities for employment,” he said.
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Overall, Hlatshwayo said it was encouraging for Ramaphosa to take charge on matters affecting SA citizens the most.
“As is often during the beginning of the academic year, universities around the country are plunged into a perpetual state of unrest due to student protests. Ramaphosa announced that the government will be building more Tvet colleges and a brand new university in Ekurhuleni which is encouraging,” he said.
“The challenges that we are experiencing at universities like UKZN is that we cannot accomodate everyone, hence you see all these student protests. Traditional universities are under pressure and the more options there are for higher learning the better,” he said.
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