Five takeaways from Ramaphosa’s SONA
President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered his State of the Nation address on Thursday night, outlining his administration’s achievements last year and plans the government has in place for 2024.
Newswatch takes a look at five key points from the president’s speech:
Load shedding
Ramaphosa said the government plans to build 14,000km of new transmission lines to help accommodate renewable power in the future with the help of private investment to accelerate the process.
He also said their commitments to usher in new power to Eskom's grid have been delivered which was through private investment.
Ramaphosa said solar and wind power also came into play to help ease rolling blackouts in the country, while reforms have also enabled the development of 120 new energy generation projects in the private sector.
He claimed the worst of the load shedding is behind South Africa, and an end load shedding is within reach.
Jobs
Ramaphosa acknowledged the high unemployment rate in the country, which officially stands at 31.9%
Ramaphosa said the government has taken steps to tackle the job crisis in South Africa but that they cannot wait to provide work to the jobless.
Over 1.7 million people have been provided work through the Presidential Employment Stimulus, the president reported.
He also promised thousands of job opportunities "in renewable energy, green hydrogen, green steel, electric vehicles and other green products.
READ: Ramaphosa pledges jobs, end to power cuts in key speech
NHI Bill
The controversial National Health Insurance Bill seems to be close to becoming law.
The NHI seeks to give free universal health care coverage to all South Africans through a fund.
Ramaphosa said the bill was sitting on his desk and that he “is looking for a pen” to sign it into law.
Healthcare organisations and opposition parties believe the NHI Bill, in its current form, is unworkable and will cause further damage to the country’s healthcare system.
"We plan to incrementally implement the NHI, dealing with issues like health system financing, the health workforce, medical products, vaccines and technologies, and health information systems," he told MPs.
READ: Ramaphosa to sign NHI Bill into law 'soon'
R350 Grant
Ramaphosa said government plans to extend the R350 social relief grant which was introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic. He said the grant reached nine million unemployed households. He said there are also plans to improve it.
Climate Change
The Just Energy Transition Investment Plan pledged have been bumped up to R240 billion and government have established a Climate Change Response Fund to address the floods, fires and droughts in the country.
The fund will see joint efforts between government and the private sector come together to fight climate change.
READ: Ramaphosa to establish climate change fund
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