State of the nation address
This would be that last time that Jacob Zuma addresses the nation as the president of the Republic of South Africa.
Jacob Zuma gave his last state of the nation address (SONA) as the president of the Republic of South Africa.
This is the first SONA since the death of the late Nelson Mandela and may be the most important address because of the country celebrates 20 years of democracy.
Zuma paid tribute to ANC comrades that have died in and for a democratic South Africa.
“All these attributes have made South Africa a much better place to live in now than it has ever been,” said Zuma.
Zumas administration has focused on five priorities that face the country.
“We elected to focus on five priorities, education, health, the fight against crime and corruption, rural development and land reform as well as creating decent work,” said Zuma.
Here are some points of his speech:
“On average, the economy has grown at 3,2 percent a year from 1994 to 2012 despite the global recession which claimed a million jobs.”
“Jobs are now being created again. There are now 15 million people with jobs in the country, the highest ever in our history, and over 650 thousand jobs were created last year, according to Stats SA.”
“We are taking a number of measures, including the Employment Tax Incentive Act which encourages employers to hire younger workers.”
“Regulations will be passed to ensure that this does not affect unsubsidized or older workers adversely.”
“Cabinet has set a target of 6 million work opportunities from this year to 2019, targeting the youth.”
“Other than mining, we had identified five other job drivers in 2009.These are tourism, agriculture, the green economy, infrastructure development and manufacturing.”
“The Rea Vaya system in Joburg is now used by more than 100 000 Gauteng residents. Similar systems are being built in Cape Town, Tshwane, Nelson Mandela Bay, Buffalo City, eThekwini and Rustenburg.”
“More of our wealth is created through the internet or telecommunication.”
“We have increased the budgets of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme to 9 billion rand to meet the rising demand.”
“The matric pass rate has gone up from around 61 percent in 2009 to 78 percent last year and the bachelor passes improve each year.”
“To promote inclusivity and diversity, the South African Sign Language curriculum will be offered in schools from next year, 2015.”
“We have also been investing in teacher training and are re-opening teacher training colleges to meet the demand.”
“The HIV and AIDS turnaround is one of the biggest achievements of this administration and we are used as a model country by the United Nations Aids Programmes, (UNAIDS).”
“Mother to child transmission of HIV has declined sharply and we have doubled the number of people who are receiving anti-retroviral treatment, from one million to 2.4 million people in 2013.
“These include the reopening of the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Units as well as the Sexual Offences Courts.”
“Some of the successes of the National Anti-Corruption Hotline include the following:
· 1 542 officials were dismissed from the Public Service.
· 140 officials were fined their three month salary.
· 20 officials were demoted
· 355 officials were given final written warnings.
· 204 officials were prosecuted.”
