“As we enter the second phase of our transition from apartheid to a national democratic society, we have to embark on radical socio-economic transformation to push back the challenges,” was one of the statements of President Jacob Zuma in his state of the nation address last night.
With the economy taking centre stage, he said the government had a programme of action based on the ANC Manifesto and the National Development Plan.
On local government he said: “We would like our people’s experience of local government to be a pleasant one.”
A key focus area in local government in the next five years will be how we respond to the reality of rapid urbanisation.
He further said government will in its next term of office:
* Create more jobs. Agriculture as a key job driver and the target is for the agricultural sector to create a million jobs by 2030.
* For the economy they had set a growth target of 5% by 2019. “To achieve this, we will embark on various measures and interventions to jump-start the economy,” Zuma said.
* The government we will during this term investigate the possibility of a national minimum wage as one of the key mechanisms to reduce the income inequality.
* The living conditions of mine workers will be bettered with the government monitoring the compliance of mining companies with Mining Charter targets. Companies are expected to convert or upgrade hostels into family units, attain the occupancy rate of one person per room and also facilitate home ownership options for mine workers.
* The low level of investments is a key constraint to economic growth . The government will continue to engage business in promoting inclusive growth and to build a more prosperous society.
* They will also address the country’s energy constraints to create a conducive environment for growth. They are looking at several alternative ways of generating electricity, as well as sources beyond the borders of our country for energy security.
* The socio-economic transformation programme will be taken further with the implementation of the Industrial Policy Action Plan.
* The government will promote local procurement and increase domestic production by having the state buy 75% of goods and services from South African producers.
* Over the next five years the government will promote regional economic development and industrialisation, through the creation of Special Economic Zones around the country. They will continue to support through incentives, the competitiveness of the auto, clothing, leather, footwear and textile industries, which are labour intensive.
* The new government has set a target to increase the number of foreign visitor arrivals to more than 15 million annually by 2017.
* They will also sharpen the implementation of the amended Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment Act and the Employment Equity Act, to transform the ownership, management and control of the economy.
* They will also promote more employee and community share ownership schemes and boost the participation of black entrepreneurs in the re-industrialisation of the economy.
* Youth empowerment will be prioritised in the economic transformation programme.
* They will continue to invest in education and skills development as that is the key to economic growth and development. “We need engineers, electricians, plumbers, doctors, teachers and many other professionals to build our country’s economy,” Zuma said.
* Education remains a priority for this government. “We will continue to promote universal access to education by ensuring that all children between ages 7 and 15 are in school,” Zuma said.
* In the area of health, the government will work harder to increase life expectancy at birth from 60 years in 2012 to 63 years in 2019.
