The
following is the recent State of the Nation address given by South African
President Jacob G. Zuma on February 13, 2014. Much like the United State’s
State of the Union address which was recently delivered by President Obama, the
purpose of this speech is to make an official statement about both the current
state of South Africa and its goals for the future. South Africa recently
suffered a great sadness with the death of Nelson Mandela, one of the most
prolific leaders in recent history. Although the sections of the speech
regarding Mr. Mandela were cut for space purposes his influence can be seen in
the President’s focus on creating equality in South Africa.
…I will
report back on the five priorities, starting with the economy. 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. Working
together as government, business, labour and the community sector, we nursed
the economy to a recovery. The
national wealth, measured in terms of GDP, has grown to more than 3.5 trillion
rand. 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.
This is
still not good enough. The unemployment rate still remains high. Youth
unemployment in South Africa continues to be of concern, as it is throughout
the world.
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.
Further measures
are contained in the National Youth Accord that was signed in Soweto last
April.
The
Expanded Public Works Programme and the Community Work Programme continue to be
an effective cushion for the poor and the youth.
We have
created 3,7 million work opportunities over the past five years. Our people
obtain an income and skills from the public works programme, which they use to
seek formal employment.
Cabinet
has set a target of 6 million work opportunities from this year to 2019,
targeting the youth.
Our social
assistance programme which now reaches about 16 million people, provides a
safety for millions, especially vulnerable children…
…Compatriots,
We are
still going through a difficult period.
Developments
in the United States economy have led to a rapid depreciation in the emerging
market currencies, including the rand.
During the
course of 2013, the rand depreciated by 17.6 per cent against the US dollar.
The weaker
exchange rate poses a significant risk to inflation and will also make our
infrastructure programme more expensive.
However,
export companies, particularly in the manufacturing sector, should take
advantage of the weaker rand and the stronger global recovery.
While we
have these difficulties, we know that we can cope with this period of
turbulence.
We have
done so before in the past five years.
We will,
in fact, emerge stronger if we do the right things.
We have to
work together as government, business and labour to grow our economy at rates
that are above 5 per cent to be able to create the jobs we need.
Fortunately
this collaboration is already taking place.
It is
taking place at NEDLAC which is one of the key institutions of cooperation in
our democracy, between government, business, labour and the community sector.
It has
taken place as well in engagements that we have been having with the business
community.
Last year
I started engaging business on specific steps that government can take to make
it easier to do business in our country.
Arising
out of that process, we have now streamlined regulatory and licensing approvals
for environmental impact assessments, water licenses and mining licenses.
Parliament
is finalizing amendments to the law to give effect to this very positive
development, which will cut to under 300 days, the time it takes to start a
mine, from application to final approvals.
The Deputy
President of the Republic continues to facilitate discussions between
government, mining companies and labour.
The
purpose is to stabilise industrial relations in this very important sector of
our economy. The process is yielding results.
Strikes in
the sector were fewer and shorter last year.
And more
importantly, industrial relations processes are taking place in a manner
consistent with the law.
We have
intervened in mining because it is one of our key job drivers. We need a mining
sector that works. Mining employs over half a million people.
It is the
biggest earner of foreign exchange in our country. It also contributes about 20
billion rand directly to the tax revenue.
Mining
also makes a far larger contribution as a buyer of goods and services, and a
supplier of inputs to other sectors of our economy and other economies around
the globe.
We are
exploring partnerships with stakeholders to address the issue of housing in
mining towns.
Let me
also remind mining companies that 2014 is the deadline for them to improve
housing and living conditions of mineworkers and to achieve a number of
targets.
Government
continues to monitor and enforce compliance on both the company’s Social and
Labour Plans and Mining Charter targets.
Fellow
South Africans,
Honourable
Members,
Other than
mining, we had identified five other job drivers in 2009.
These are
tourism, agriculture, the green economy, infrastructure development and
manufacturing.
The
tourism industry has grown dramatically. In 1993, South Africa received a mere
3 million foreign visitors. By 2012, the figure had grown to 13 million
visitors.
We will
continue to grow this industry, given its potential for job creation.
In 2012 we
unveiled the National Infrastructure Plan, led by the President through the
Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Commission.
We have
subsequently invested one trillion rand in public infrastructure over the past five
years.
Many of
the projects are completed or are nearing completion.
I will
mention just a few.
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.
The
country’s harbours and ports have been improved.
We have
built a 700 kilometre fuel pipeline from Durban to Gauteng to transport 4
billion cubic litres of petrol, diesel and jet fuel a year.
Close to
1500 kilometres of new roads or lanes have been built...
...The
construction of new rail lines has started in Mpumalanga, to ease the pressure
off the roads.
The
Gautrain project is now fully functional and carries over 1,2 million
passengers a month.
The
Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa will spend over 120 billion rand over the
next 10 years to buy new trains.
Transnet
is implementing its massive 300 billion rand market demand strategy, building
much needed transport infrastructure.
To realise
the economic potential of the Western Cape and the West Coast, we launched the
Saldanha Industrial Development Zone and opened two new factories in Atlantis.
To improve
the water supply, two large new dams were completed, De Hoop in Limpopo and
Spring Grove in KwaZulu-Natal, while phase 2 of the Lesotho Highlands Water
Project is to be launched soon.
Construction
is continuing at the new power stations, Medupi in Limpopo, Kusile in
Mpumalanga and Ingula near Ladysmith, employing more than 30 000 workers.
We
continue to explore other sources of energy, in line with the Integrated
Resource Plan for Energy.
The
development of petroleum, especially shale gas will be a game-changer for the
Karoo region and the South African economy.
Having
evaluated the risks and opportunities, the final regulations will be released
soon and will be followed by the processing and granting of licenses.
We expect
to conclude the procurement of nine thousand six hundred megawatts of nuclear
energy.
Biofuels
manufacturers have been selected and have started work.
Honourable
Members
Ours is
indeed a country at work and is a much better place to live in. We must keep
the momentum.
Honourable
Members,
More of
our wealth is created through the internet or telecommunication.
A 37 000
kilometres of fibre-optic cable has been laid by the private and public sectors
in the past five years. This will be significantly expanded in the years ahead.
We are
proud of our successes in science and technology. The construction of the first
telescope of the 64-dish forerunner to the Square Kilometre Array, the MeerKAT,
will be completed in the first quarter of 2014.
Honourable
Members,
Our
incentives to boost manufacturing have yielded returns.
The
Automotive Investment Scheme that was launched in 2009 has approved a total 3.8
billion rand worth of incentives for about 160 investment projects. These
sustain more than 50 thousand jobs.
The
companies will be developing sedan cars, minibus taxis and buses.
We have
stabilised the clothing, textile, leather and footwear sector, which had been
shedding jobs.
Several
industries have been designated for local content. These include buses, canned
vegetables, clothing, textiles, leather and footwear and other goods.
We have
concrete examples of the success of the localisation programme.
In the
past two years alone, more than 20 000 minibus taxis and 330 buses were
assembled locally, drawing investment and development to our cities.
In the
next five years, the state will procure at least 75% of its goods and services
from South African producers.
Fellow
South Africans,
We have to
work more intensively to develop emerging or black industrialists.
Many of
the aspirant black industrialists complain about the difficulties they
experience in obtaining industrial finance, supplier and retail markets, and
technical production support.
The
National Empowerment Fund, the Industrial Development Corporation and the Small
Enterprise Finance Agency will continue to provide finance to viable
black-owned businesses to promote industrialisation.
In addition,
we encourage established businesses to support the development of black
industrial businesses.
Agriculture
is a key job driver and a provider of opportunities for entrepreneurship.
Our
agricultural support programme, Fetsa Tlala, is producing brand new exporters.
The first
88 smallholder farmers in this programme supplied the United Nations World Food
Programme with 268 tons of maize and beans to send to Lesotho last month. We
expect this number to increase.
We will
continue to promote our fisheries sector as well, which contributes an
estimated 6billion rand to the economy and provides 27 000 jobs.
Honourable
Members,
We have
made good progress in the land reform programme.
Since
1994, nearly 5,000 farms, comprising 4.2 million hectares, have been transferred
to black people, benefiting over 200,000 families.
Nearly
80,000 land claims, totaling 3.4 million hectares, have been settled and 1.8
million people have benefited.
The next
administration will need to take forward a number of policy, legislative and
practical interventions, to further redress the dispossession of our people of
their land.
These
include matters relating to the establishment of the Office of the
Valuer-General and thereby opening of the lodgement of claims.
Honourable
Members
South
Africa is indeed a much better place to live in.
Let me now
report on our social transformation programme.
Education
is a ladder out of poverty for millions of our people.
We are
happy therefore that there is a huge increase in the enrolment of children in
school, from pre-primary to tertiary level.
The number
of children attending Grade R has more than doubled, moving from about 300
thousand to more than 700 thousand between 2003 and 2011.
A Draft
Policy Framework towards Universal Access to Grade R has been gazetted for
public comment, with a view to making Grade R compulsory…
…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.
Through
the Annual National Assessments, we keep track of improvements and
interventions needed, especially, in maths and science.
To promote
inclusivity and diversity, the South African Sign Language curriculum will be
offered in schools from next year, 2015.
We have
increased our numbers of literate adults through the Kha Ri Gude programme from
2,2 million in 2008 to 3 million people.
We have
also been investing in teacher training and are re-opening teacher training
colleges to meet the demand.
To produce
a decent learning environment, we have delivered 370 new schools replacing mud
schools and other unsuitable structures around the country. The programme
continues.
Compatriots
We have a
good story to tell in higher education as well.
Student
enrolments at universities increased by 12% while further Education and
Training college enrolments have increased by 90%.
We have
increased the budgets of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme to 9 billion
rand to meet the rising demand.
Another
major achievement of this term has been the establishment of two brand new
universities, Sol Plaatje in the Northern Cape and the University of
Mpumalanga.
We will
also build 12 new FET Colleges in Limpopo, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and
Eastern Cape.
Compatriots,
The launch
of the National Education Collaboration Framework last year was an important
development for the country. We wish the team well in their national duty.
Compatriots,
We have a
good story to tell in the improvement of health care too.
Over the
past five years, 300 new health facilities have been built, including 160 new
clinics.
Ten new
hospitals have been builtor refurbished in Ladybrand, Germiston, Mamelodi,
Natalspruit, eThekwini, Zola, Bojanala, Vryburg District, Swartruggens,
Khayelitsha and Mitchell’s Plain...
...Compatriots
The
independence of the judiciary has been further enhanced by the establishment of
the Office of the Chief Justice as a separate institution from the Department
of Justice and Constitutional Development. We have passed several pieces of
legislation to support this new role of the Office of the Chief Justice.
Progress
is being made in the transformation of the judiciary to reflect the race and
gender demographics of the country.
The Chief
Justice of the Republic continues to champion and lead this transformation.
Black
judges (African, Indian and Coloured) now constitute 61% of all judges.
However,
the acute under-representation of women on the bench remains of concern. Of the
judicial establishment of 239 judges, only 76 are women.
The
challenge is to transform the legal profession broadly in order to nourish the
pool from which female judges can be appointed.
The
finalisation of the Legal Practice Bill will assist to broaden the pool from
which potential judicial officers could be selected.
Honourable
Speaker and Chairperson,
South
Africans are united in wanting a corruption free society. Fighting corruption
within the public service is yielding results.
Since the
launch of the National Anti-Corruption Hotline by the Public Service
Commission, over 13 000 cases of corruption and maladministration have been
referred to government departments for further handling and investigation.
Government
has recovered more than 320-million rand from perpetrators through the National
Anti-Corruption Hotline.
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.
To prevent
corruption in the supply chain system, government has decided to establish a
central tender board to adjudicate tenders in all spheres of government.
This body
will work with the chief procurement officer whose main function will be to
check on pricing and adherence to procedures as well as fairness.
The
Special Investigating Unit is investigating maladministration or alleged
corruption in a number of government departments and state entities, through 40
proclamations signed by the President during this administration. We will keep
the public informed of the outcome of the investigations.
In the
first six months of last year, the Asset Forfeiture Unit paid a total of 149
million rand into the Criminal Assets Recovery Account and to the victims of
crime.
This is
170% above its target of 55 million rand and is higher than it has ever
achieved in a full year.
Last year,
the competition authorities investigated large-scale price fixing in the
construction industry and fined guilty companies 1.4 billion rand.
Further
steps against those involved are now underway.
Compatriots,
I would
now like to touch briefly on the provision of basic services to our people.
Over the
past 20 years, remarkable achievements have been made in increasing access to
services such as water, sanitation and electricity.
Government
has begun an intensive programme to eliminate the bucket system as part of
restoring the dignity of our people.
Phase One
of the programme will eradicate buckets in formalized townships of the Free
State, Eastern Cape and Northern Cape.
Phase Two
will eradicate buckets in informal settlements in all provinces.
In
housing, about 3 million housing units and more than 855 thousand serviced
sites were delivered since 1994.
Nearly 500
informal settlements have been replaced with quality housing and basic services
over the past five years.
The next
administration will promote better located mixed income housing projects.
Compatriots,
Some
communities still do not have these services especially in informal settlements
and rural areas.We are therefore working with all spheres of government to
ensure the provision of these services, especially in the 23 municipalities with
the greatest number of backlogs.
In last
year’s State of the Nation Address, I raised my concern with the manifestation
of violence in some of the protests taking place in our country.
Violent
protests have taken place again around the country in the past few weeks.
Also
worrying is what appears to be premeditated violence, as is the case with the
use of petrol bombs and other weapons during protests.
The
democratic government supports the right of citizens to express themselves.
The right
to protest, peacefully and unarmed, is enshrined in the Constitution.
However,
when protests threaten lives and property and destroy valuable infrastructure
intended to serve the community, they undermine the very democracy that upholds
the right to protest.
The
dominant narrative in the case of the protests in South Africa has been to
attribute them to alleged failures of government.
However
the protests are not simply the result of “failures” of government but also of
the success in delivering basic services.
When 95% of
households have access to water, the 5% who still need to be provided for, feel
they cannot wait a moment longer.
Success is
also the breeding ground of rising expectations.
Let me
also add Honourable Members, that any loss of life at the hands of the police
in the course of dealing with the protests cannot be overlooked or condoned.
Loss of
life is not a small matter. We need to know what happened, why it happened. Any
wrongdoing must be dealt with and corrective action must be taken. Police must
act within the ambit of the law at all times.
Having
said this, we should also as a society be concerned that between 2005 and 2013,
close to 800 police officerswere killed.
The police
are protectors and are the buffer between a democratic society based on the
rule of law, and anarchy. As we hold the police to account, we should be
careful not to end up delegitimising them and glorify anarchy in our society.
The
culture of violence originated from the apartheid past. We need to conduct
anintrospectionin our efforts to get rid of this scourge.
As leaders
from all walks of life, we must reflect on what we did or did not do, to
systematically root out the violence that surfaced in protests during the early
days of our democracy.
We have a
collective responsibility to build a society that respects the rule of law,
respects one another and which respects life and property.
We should
work together to rebuild Ubuntu and a culture of responsibility in our society.
Honourable
Speaker,
Honourable
Chairperson of the NCOP,
A decision
has been taken to improve functioning of local government.
The
amendment of the Municipal Systems Act is intended to improve the capacity of
municipalities to deliver services.
Qualified
and experienced personnel must be deployed in municipalities.
We also
need to strengthen existing forums of people’s participation and enable our
people to play a greater role in development.
The fight
against corruption must be intensified as well, especially given reports that
some services are interrupted or stopped, so that certain people could provide
those services at cost to the state.
These
matters are being prioritised for the next administration.
Honourable
Speaker and Chairperson
Democratic
South Africa’s foreign policy was shaped many decades ago during the fierce
international campaign to isolate the apartheid state.
ANC
President Oliver Tambo played a key role in that regard, assisted by among
others, the late Johnny Makatini, former head of international affairs.His
wife, Mrs Valerie Makatini is one of our honoured guests this evening.Africa
has remained at the centre of our foreign policy.
We have
worked hard to strengthen support for the African Union, SADC and all
continental bodies whose purpose is to achieve peace and security.
We have
also prioritised the promotion of regional economic integration, infrastructure
development, intra-African trade and sustainable development in the continent.
This year
we also submitted our third country report to the AU African Peer Review
Mechanism which was well received.
We
continue to support peacemaking and conflict resolution.
Progress
is being made in negotiations between Sudan and South Sudan on outstanding
issues following the secession.
Following
requests from Sri Lanka and South Sudan for assistance in bringing about peace
and reconciliation, Mr Cyril Ramaphosa, has been appointed as South Africa’s
Special Envoy to the two countries.
His
expertise in conflict resolution and negotiations as well as our country’s
experience in this regard, will greatly assist the two countries to resolve
their problems.
We will
continue to strengthen relations with Europe, North America, Latin America,
Asia and countries in the South.
Participation
in international multilateral forums such as the G20 have been beneficial for
the country.
And
joining the Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) group in December 2010
counts as among the key achievements of the fourth administration.
It was
also a great honour to host the Fifth BRICS Summit on 27 March 2013 in Durban,
which saw the participation of African leaders to discuss developmental
cooperation with BRICS.
We will
continue to serve diligently in the United Nations in promotion of strong
international governance.
We will
also continue promoting the reform of the UN Security Council and global
financial institutions…
…South
Africa is a much better place to live in now than it was before 1994.
We
continue to face challenges. But life will also continue to change for the
better.
Nkosi
Sikelel’ i Africa
God Bless
Afrika.
I thank
you.
↜↜↜
Jacob G.
Zuma, President of the Republic of South Africa, “The State of the Nation”,
Cape Town, South Africa, February 13, 2014. http://www.dha.gov.za:8087/
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