‘Political parties need to work together to rebuild SA’ − Ramaphosa

President Cyril Ramaphosa said political parties need to work together to sustain the momentum of reform, growth and transformation of South Africa.

Ramaphosa made the remarks in his weekly newsletter “From the Desk of the President”.

With the 2024 elections over and coalition discussions between political parties around the formation of a government ongoing, Ramaphosa said there is broad support for the continuation of economic reforms.

“As the country prepares for a new democratic administration, all parties need to work together to sustain the momentum of reform, growth and transformation. A stable and effective government committed to economic reform will enable us to build an inclusive and growing economy that benefits all South Africans.”

Poverty

Ramaphosa said eradicating poverty and inequality and reducing unemployment must remain government’s overriding collective priorities.

“We cannot address these challenges and improve the lives of our people without attracting more investment in our economy and accelerating growth. Economic growth, transformation and job creation has been at the centre of the programme of the sixth administration.

“Since 2019, we have implemented a range of growth-enhancing structural reforms to remove the constraints which have held back growth, to attract higher levels of investment, and to make our economy more efficient and competitive,” Ramaphosa said.

In 2020, government established Operation Vulindlela, a wide initiative to accelerate the implementation of reforms to support economic recovery.

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Electricity

Ramaphosa said government has undertaken far-reaching reforms in energy, logistics, the water sector and telecommunications.

“We have said that it will take time for the impact of many of these reforms to be fully felt. At the same time, the process of recovery and rebuilding is well underway.

“The electricity sector is one such example. The implementation of the Energy Action Plan that we announced in 2022 has seen accelerated procurement of new generation capacity, a growing number of new energy projects being connected to the grid, and a surge in rooftop solar energy. These developments, together with Eskom’s ongoing work to improve the maintenance of its power stations, have helped to reduce the severity of load shedding,” Ramaphosa said.

Ramaphosa said as Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana noted in this year’s Budget Speech successful efforts to improve the fiscal position, complete structural reforms and bolster the capacity of the state will in combination reduce borrowing costs, raise confidence, increase investment and employment, and accelerate economic growth.

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