BL Premium reports that on the eve of the ANC’s 55th elective conference, President Cyril Ramaphosa in his weekly letter on Monday addressed many of the challenges facing SA.
The report painted a picture of hope and opportunity against the backdrop of the deteriorating electricity crisis crippling the economy, job losses, the sharply escalating cost of living and corruption. , Ramaphosa said that despite the electricity challenges, the economy was recording growth, exports have increased by 4.2% and new jobs were being created. He wrote: “While we haven’t recovered all the jobs lost to the pandemic about 1.5-million new jobs were created in the last year. A few months ago, the Presidential Employment Stimulus, reached a 1-million participants. More than 3-million youth are registered on the innovative SAYouth.mobi platform that connects them with prospective employers. We are revitalising the National Youth Service to create work opportunities for 50,000 young people.” Acknowledging that several challenges have yet to be resolved, the president opined as follows: “But we have good reason to believe things are getting better. Our great country will rise above adversity, as it has done so many times in the past. The road to recovery and to building a better SA will be a long one. But we will get there if we act decisively, and we act together. We will overcome our current challenges as surely as we did the pandemic that threatened to lay waste to our nation.”
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Mary Papayya at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
- Read too, ‘We face the New Year with confidence and determination’, at Moneyweb
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page