FROM THE DESK OF THE PRESIDENT
Monday, 13 June 2022
SOCIAL EMPLOYMENT OFFERS YOUNG PEOPLE HOPE AND OPPORTUNITY
Dear Fellow South African
Later this week, we will commemorate Youth Day in honour of the bravery and sacrifices of the generation of 1976 in its struggle against an unjust and illegitimate regime.
Today, the youth of South Africa confront new struggles in their quest to lead lives of dignity and in pursuit of a better life. Though we have made substantial progress in broadening opportunities for young people in basic and higher education, millions of young people remain unemployed.
While the latest employment figures give some cause for optimism – some 370,000 jobs were created in the first quarter of this year – we still have a huge mountain to climb in our quest to create more jobs, especially for young people. According to Stats SA, youth unemployment in South Africa is at 66.5%. No society can expect to grow or thrive when the vast majority of its young people are out of work.
Our foremost priority as government is to achieve higher rates of inclusive growth that generate sustainable jobs at the scale of social need.
The economic reforms we are implementing, alongside measures such as industrial policy to support labour-intensive growth sectors, aim to drive growth and expand private sector employment. However, we cannot simply wait for higher growth to create jobs, especially for young people.
I hold the view that even as millions of people are unemployed, there is no shortage of work to be done to build a better South Africa.
This is the fundamental premise of the Presidential Employment Stimulus, which is designed as a once-in-a-generation effort to tackle unemployment at scale.
The employment stimulus is on track to support a million jobs through a wide range of programmes, all of which contribute to improving communities and creating public goods that will last beyond the work itself.
Eighty-four per cent of all participants in these programmes are young people, and 62% are women.
The most recent initiative to be launched through the stimulus is the Social Employment Fund, which will pioneer a new and innovative approach to public employment.
The Social Employment Fund will partner with non-governmental organisations across the country to deliver ‘work for the common good’. This work is in areas like community safety, food kitchens, urban agriculture, early childhood development and the fight against gender-based violence.
The Social Employment Fund will create 50,000 new work opportunities in the first phase before scaling up further in subsequent phases.
The unique feature of social employment is that it recognises that unemployed people in communities are a powerful resource for development, not a ‘problem’ to be solved.
We have many real problems to address – from improving waste collection to creating safe and beautiful public spaces – that require work, and many people who are eager to do it.
Not only does social employment provide an income for participants by supporting locally-driven initiatives to fulfil local needs; social employment can also unlock creativity and agency, build local participation and strengthen mutual support systems in communities.
Another important programme that has now entered implementation, and which I announced in the State of the Nation Address, is a revitalised National Youth Service.
This programme will create a further 50,000 jobs for unemployed young people performing acts of service across the country, while providing much-needed work experience and reinforcing the value of active citizenship.
The recruitment of participants for social employment and the youth service is currently underway.
What these programmes show is that public employment can achieve multiple objectives at once. These include addressing unemployment, building skills and experience, providing public goods and services, and, perhaps most important of all, contributing to a massive national effort to improve the state of our country.
Despite the great setback caused by COVID-19, our economy is slowly returning to pre-pandemic levels. As government, we will continue to champion programmes and initiatives that limit the impact of unemployment on young people until the private sector starts creating more jobs at scale.
I once again call on business to be part of this effort by employing more young people, by making use of the Employee Tax Incentive and other measures, and by supporting and buying from businesses owned and run by young people.
This Youth Day, as we recall the struggles of our past, let us remain firmly focused on the work that we are doing – including through our innovative public employment programmes – to build a better future for all the young people of our country.
With best regards,
President Cyril RAMAPHOSA
FROM THE DESK OF THE PRESIDENT
Monday, 06 June 2022
RISING COST OF LIVING CALLS FOR A UNITED RESPONSE
Dear Fellow South African,
Over the past few months, South African consumers have been hit by steep price increases that have dramatically affected their quality of life.
It has become increasingly more expensive to buy food and other essentials, to pay for basic services and to use public or private transportation. While these rising costs affect everyone, low-income households are feeling them the most.
The latest Consumer Price Index for April 2022 published by Stats SA shows there has been little respite for hard-pressed South Africans. Food inflation was recorded at 6.2 per cent. The most basic foodstuffs cost more than a year ago, with staples like cooking oil recording the highest increases.
The price of fuel, which affects the price of almost everything else, has risen by a third in the twelve months to March 2022.
South Africa is not alone in this regard.
A recently published poll for the World Economic Forum shows that nearly a quarter of people globally, including those in developed economies, are struggling financially due to rising prices.
These increases, particularly the price of fuel, are the consequence of events over which we have little control. The ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine has had a significant impact on the price of fuel and food. Both countries are major exporters to international markets of fertilisers, grains and oilseeds that are needed for a range of items such as cooking oil.
Another factor is lower agricultural output due to extreme weather events caused by climate change, such as flooding and droughts.
While many of these events are beyond our control, government is doing what it can to shield the South African from current and future price increases.
One of our greatest advantages as a country is a strong, independent Reserve Bank that has managed to keep inflation within a narrow target range, well below what many other countries are experiencing.
Last week, we announced that the fuel levy will be suspended for another two months to August, which will bring some relief to households. The suspension of the levy has provided essential relief to South Africans since it began in April. Since the suspension of the levy comes at a significant cost to public finances, which affects other programmes of government, it will be difficult to continue this indefinitely.
There are, however, other things we can do.
Improving our nation’s food security is vital to withstanding this and future shocks. We have a strong agricultural sector that continues to grow and create jobs.
To further increase agricultural production and strengthen our food sovereignty, we are investing heavily in improving local capacity, supporting commercial and small-scale farmers alike and helping more people to grow their own food.
Through the Presidential Employment Stimulus, input vouchers have been given to over 65,000 smallholder farmers, and work is underway to reach 250,000 such farmers. Government is also providing subsistence farmers with fertilisers and equipment to produce food, and helping groups or individuals to start their own food gardens. In provinces like North West, small-scale farmers are supported with agricultural ‘starter-packs’ of seedlings and poultry, in partnership with local agricultural colleges.
Through the Pro-Active Land Acquisition Strategy and the release of state-owned land for agriculture, we are supporting more small-scale farmers to expand their businesses and make them commercially successful. We are also focusing on establishing more public-private partnerships to support the expansion of black commercial farming through initiatives like the Partners in Agri Land Solutions and the Agricultural Development Agency.
To enhance biosecurity and safeguard animal health against diseases like foot-and-mouth, we are strengthening our animal movement control measures and vaccine production capabilities.
In addition to boosting local food production, our extensive social grants system and zero-rating of basic goods helps to protect the poor from rising costs. Through free basic services like water and electricity for indigent households, we can ensure that no family goes without basic services.
To get through this difficult period, all of society should get involved.
For our part, government will continue to monitor the situation closely and will do everything within its power to protect South Africans from unsustainable increases in the cost of living.
Corporate South Africa should ensure that consumers do not pay more for food than they have to. We welcome the indications from food manufacturers and retailers that they are putting measures in place to help consumers get more for their money.
In March this year the Competition Commission released for public comment the terms of reference for a market enquiry into the fresh produce market. It noted that the cost of fresh produce has been increasing at above-inflation levels, and that this has had a disproportionate effect on the poor. The inquiry will examine if there are any distortions in the value chain that make food more expensive.
We will use our competition policy to protect consumers against unjustifiable price increases and anticompetitive practices by businesses, as we did during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The ongoing process of structural reform of our economy will support these efforts. Reforms in the energy, transport and telecommunications sectors aim to reduce the cost of electricity, logistics and data in the long term through greater competition and efficiency. We should be paying less, not more, for these services in the future.
Though oil prices and extreme weather are events over which we have little control, there is still much we can do, as government, business, labour and communities to help the people of South Africa through this difficult time.
With best regards,
Over the past few months, South African consumers have been hit by steep price increases that have dramatically affected their quality of life.
It has become increasingly more expensive to buy food and other essentials, to pay for basic services and to use public or private transportation. While these rising costs affect everyone, low-income households are feeling them the most.
The latest Consumer Price Index for April 2022 published by Stats SA shows there has been little respite for hard-pressed South Africans. Food inflation was recorded at 6.2 per cent. The most basic foodstuffs cost more than a year ago, with staples like cooking oil recording the highest increases.
The price of fuel, which affects the price of almost everything else, has risen by a third in the twelve months to March 2022.
South Africa is not alone in this regard.
A recently published poll for the World Economic Forum shows that nearly a quarter of people globally, including those in developed economies, are struggling financially due to rising prices.
These increases, particularly the price of fuel, are the consequence of events over which we have little control. The ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine has had a significant impact on the price of fuel and food. Both countries are major exporters to international markets of fertilisers, grains and oilseeds that are needed for a range of items such as cooking oil.
Another factor is lower agricultural output due to extreme weather events caused by climate change, such as flooding and droughts.
While many of these events are beyond our control, government is doing what it can to shield the South African from current and future price increases.
One of our greatest advantages as a country is a strong, independent Reserve Bank that has managed to keep inflation within a narrow target range, well below what many other countries are experiencing.
Last week, we announced that the fuel levy will be suspended for another two months to August, which will bring some relief to households. The suspension of the levy has provided essential relief to South Africans since it began in April. Since the suspension of the levy comes at a significant cost to public finances, which affects other programmes of government, it will be difficult to continue this indefinitely.
There are, however, other things we can do.
Improving our nation’s food security is vital to withstanding this and future shocks. We have a strong agricultural sector that continues to grow and create jobs.
To further increase agricultural production and strengthen our food sovereignty, we are investing heavily in improving local capacity, supporting commercial and small-scale farmers alike and helping more people to grow their own food.
Through the Presidential Employment Stimulus, input vouchers have been given to over 65,000 smallholder farmers, and work is underway to reach 250,000 such farmers. Government is also providing subsistence farmers with fertilisers and equipment to produce food, and helping groups or individuals to start their own food gardens. In provinces like North West, small-scale farmers are supported with agricultural ‘starter-packs’ of seedlings and poultry, in partnership with local agricultural colleges.
Through the Pro-Active Land Acquisition Strategy and the release of state-owned land for agriculture, we are supporting more small-scale farmers to expand their businesses and make them commercially successful. We are also focusing on establishing more public-private partnerships to support the expansion of black commercial farming through initiatives like the Partners in Agri Land Solutions and the Agricultural Development Agency.
To enhance biosecurity and safeguard animal health against diseases like foot-and-mouth, we are strengthening our animal movement control measures and vaccine production capabilities.
In addition to boosting local food production, our extensive social grants system and zero-rating of basic goods helps to protect the poor from rising costs. Through free basic services like water and electricity for indigent households, we can ensure that no family goes without basic services.
To get through this difficult period, all of society should get involved.
For our part, government will continue to monitor the situation closely and will do everything within its power to protect South Africans from unsustainable increases in the cost of living.
Corporate South Africa should ensure that consumers do not pay more for food than they have to. We welcome the indications from food manufacturers and retailers that they are putting measures in place to help consumers get more for their money.
In March this year the Competition Commission released for public comment the terms of reference for a market enquiry into the fresh produce market. It noted that the cost of fresh produce has been increasing at above-inflation levels, and that this has had a disproportionate effect on the poor. The inquiry will examine if there are any distortions in the value chain that make food more expensive.
We will use our competition policy to protect consumers against unjustifiable price increases and anticompetitive practices by businesses, as we did during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The ongoing process of structural reform of our economy will support these efforts. Reforms in the energy, transport and telecommunications sectors aim to reduce the cost of electricity, logistics and data in the long term through greater competition and efficiency. We should be paying less, not more, for these services in the future.
Though oil prices and extreme weather are events over which we have little control, there is still much we can do, as government, business, labour and communities to help the people of South Africa through this difficult time.
With best regards,
President Cyril Ramaphosa
FROM THE DESK OF THE PRESIDENT
Monday, 23 May 2022
RACISM IS STILL PART OF THE DAILY SOUTH AFRICAN EXPERIENCE
Dear Fellow South African,
The country has, in recent days, been outraged at the sight of a white student at the University of Stellenbosch degrading and humiliating a fellow black student in a despicable act.
There has been widespread anger that such acts still take place in a country with a bitter past like ours; a past which we have fought so hard to overcome.
It is more troubling that such incidents are happening at schools and places of higher learning. A number of the people involved were born after the end of apartheid.
While the incident at the University of Stellenbosch may seem like an aberration – an appalling act that has been roundly condemned – the truth is that racism is still a feature of every-day life in South Africa. The sooner we recognise that reality, the sooner we can change it.
We know that racism, here and around the world, is driven by feelings of superiority on the part of those who perpetuate it. And although racism can be directed against anyone, it is black people who bear the brunt, both in the past and in the present. As the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement has so strongly asserted, we need to systematically dismantle and eradicate attitudes of white superiority.
It is encouraging and exhilarating to see young South Africans taking the lead in this effort. The thousands of students who have joined protests at Stellenbosch and elsewhere were not responding to just one incident.
They were responding to a deep and pervasive problem in our society, which they themselves have to confront daily.
As Kwenzokuhle Khumalo, a 4th year Management Sciences student and leader, told students on the Stellenbosch campus this week: “You’ve met the wrong generation this time.”
Like the youth of 1976, a new generation of young South Africans is stepping forward to proclaim their birth right and reclaim their future. They are challenging society to grapple with racism, its causes and its effects. As Ms Khumalo rightly said, it is not black people who are the problem and need attention, but those people who still hold on to ideas of white superiority.
It cannot be that the onus must rest with the formerly oppressed as the main victims of racism to advance reconciliation. It cannot be that black South Africans have to continue to prove themselves worthy of dignity and respect.
In a 2016 judgment on a case involving an employee of the South African Revenue Service who was fired for using the k-word at work, Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng wrote: “There are many bridges yet to be crossed in our journey from crude and legalised racism to a new order where social cohesion, equality and the effortless observance of the right to dignity is a practical reality.”
If we are going to cross these bridges, we need to understand what is causing racist attitudes to flourish in our schools and places of higher learning. We need to understand what kind of institutional cultures contribute to racism in the workplace, in social organisations and in communities.
We need frank and honest dialogue between people of different races on the experiences of black people in South Africa 28 years into democracy.
These discussions should be part of the life orientation curriculum in our schools. The arts and culture community should produce content and programming that fully reflects the diversity of the country and the lived experiences of people of all races.
Greater emphasis should be placed on inculcating tolerance and respect for diversity in the classroom from a young age. Parents should be part of this effort because the reality is that racist, chauvinistic and sexist attitudes among the younger generation are often a reflection of what they observe and learn from their parents and older relatives at home.
As many student leaders who took part in protests over the past week said, when it comes to transformation the time for half-measures is over.
This doesn’t only apply to overt racism in schools, workplaces and places of higher learning, but to all of society. Just as racists must be held accountable for their actions, all sectors of society, including business, must advance transformation.
The rights to equality and human dignity are the cornerstones of our Constitution and building a non-racial and non-sexist society is our shared fundamental responsibility.
In complying with employment equity legislation, in advancing broad-based black economic empowerment, in taking practical steps towards redress and undoing the legacy of our discriminatory past, we are not just obeying the law.
We are redressing a grave injustice and building a new country in which race, class and gender no longer determine the circumstances of one’s birth or one’s prospects in life.
Ending racism is not just about changing attitudes; it is also about changing the material conditions that still today separate black and white South Africans.
We have come too far and the sacrifices made have been too great for such appalling acts of racism to turn us against each other. Rather, we must use this incident to confront the issue of race and racial inequality in our society.
It is our wish and expectation that the student population and the broader Stellenbosch university community, both black and white, find each other and rally together to confront racism honestly with courage and truthfulness. They must roundly reject what has happened and express their determination to achieve a learning environment free of bigotry, racism and chauvinism and embrace a non-racial future for Stellenbosch University. By so doing they will set the standard for us all.
With best regards,
President Cyril Ramaphosa
FROM THE DESK OF THE PRESIDENT
Monday, 30 May 2022
BLACK ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT A MUST FOR GROWTH
Dear Fellow South African,
Last week a landmark broad-based black economic empowerment transaction was concluded in the Eastern Cape that significantly improves the participation of black women-owned businesses in the energy sector.
A liquid bulk fuel terminal operated by BP Southern Africa in East London has been sold to Wasaa, an independent petrochemicals company. Wasaa has acquired all the terminal’s moveable assets and a 20 per cent share in berth-to-terminal pipelines.
With the 2020 report by the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Commission showing that most economic sectors are falling short of their black women ownership targets, this acquisition by a black and female-owned company of a liquid fuel terminal is a historic development.
It contributes to our national effort to redress inequality and ensure there is meaningful participation by the country’s majority in our economy.
This week, I am announcing the new appointment of the new Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Advisory Council. This council, which comprises government, business, labour and other stakeholders, was established to champion the cause of economic transformation.
The council has its origins in a 2001 report produced by the BEE Commission.
This report emanated from an extensive study into the structure of the South African economy, and what was needed to transform this structure, grow black entrepreneurship, ensure greater black management and ownership of businesses, and bring black women into the mainstream of the economy.
Next year, it will be two decades since the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) Act – which established the council – was passed.
Our commitment to entrench and deepen economic empowerment is unwavering. That is why black economic empowerment is an integral part of our economic reconstruction and recovery in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This is one of the reassurances I articulated to the Black Business Council earlier this month, where we discussed the state of BBBEE in the country, the progress that has been made and what we need to do as a collective to build on our gains.
While there has been significant progress over the last two decades, there are some areas where there has been regression. We have gone backwards when it comes to increasing black management control, upscaling skills development, entrenching enterprise development and broadening procurement to give opportunities to black women and the youth.
The apartheid government deliberately built a distorted economy designed to benefit white people. The majority of South Africans were marginalised from the mainstream economy, with black entrepreneurs confined to small retail industries in the townships.
At the end of apartheid, black ownership of JSE-listed companies was less than 1%. This figure has not improved much in the past 28 years.
At the same time, there have been important private sector initiatives and deliberate measures by the state to facilitate greater and more meaningful participation of black people in the economy.
Between 2017 and 2020, nearly 500 empowerment transactions were submitted for registration to the BBBEE Commission. In key sectors such as construction, property, information and communications technology, tourism and transport, black ownership has exceeded targets.
Economic transformation and economic growth are intertwined. There cannot be one without the other.
By integrating transformation into the process of industrialisation, we are advancing a more inclusive growth model that shares, rather than concentrates, wealth.
The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition is (DTIC) pursuing this goal through various programmes. They include a support programme for township businesses, export-related training by the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) to black, women and youth-owned businesses, and increased infrastructure budget to SMMEs in the Tshwane Special Economic Zone.
Through sectoral masterplans we are driving localisation that benefits black owned businesses. For example, 10 black contract growers have been established with an investment of R336 million as part of the poultry masterplan. Government has also launched a black exporters network that will connect black- owned companies in food, engineering products, auto components, beauty products and other sectors of the economy.
As part of our drive to create a new generation of black industrialists, last year government approved R2.5 billion in new support to about 180 black industrialists in the form of loans from the IDC and National Empowerment Fund (NEF) and grants from the DTIC incentive scheme. Over the next three years a further R21 billion has been committed by the IDC, NEF and other institutions to support black industrialists. An additional R25 billion has been committed to support black, women, youth and worker-owned companies.
It is clear that much more work needs to be done to address the many challenges that black businesses face. This includes the difficulty of accessing start-up and expansion capital and the ability of SMMEs to find markets for their products. Black women-owned businesses, in particular, encounter difficulties in taking on large-scale empowerment transactions.
Breaking the cycle of underdevelopment through black economic empowerment is not just a moral imperative; it also makes business sense.
The continued exclusion of the black majority from the economy’s mainstream constrains economic growth, which ultimately impacts all business. Expanding the country’s entrepreneurial base is fundamental to growth.
We have a shared responsibility to drive the effort to entrench BBBEE because it is about eradicating inequality. Unequal economies breed unequal societies, and unequal societies don’t grow and flourish.
It is not only wrong, but also unsustainable, for businesses to keep their management and ownership structures mostly white or male.
It is, after all, the South African public that are the primary consumers of their goods and services. This should be reflected in diversity of hiring and management practices, in ownership and in procurement.
Broad-based black economic empowerment will only be achieved through partnership and a shared commitment to transformation.
The appointment of the new BBBEE Council will help us to expand the frontiers of broad-based black economic empowerment. I call on business, labour and industry to work with the council as it undertakes this vital work.
With best regards,
President Cyril Ramaphosa
FROM THE DESK OF THE PRESIDENT
Monday, 16 May 2022
REBUILDING LIVES AND LIVELIHOODS AFTER THE FLOODS
Dear Fellow South African,
It has been just over a month since heavy flooding wreaked havoc across parts of KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape and North West, causing extensive loss of life and damage to property and infrastructure.
Yesterday, I visited eThekwini in KwaZulu-Natal to meet with businesspeople in the city to lend our support to their efforts to restore their operations.
When this natural disaster struck, there was some concern that authorities had neither the capacity nor the will to respond efficiently and effectively to the dire situation of those who had lost everything.
Having paid my second visit to the city since the floods, I am clear that this concern was misplaced. In KwaZulu-Natal, as in the Eastern Cape and North West, all stakeholders have been hard at work to recover from these tragic events.
The National Disaster Management Centre has been coordinating all spheres of government in their efforts to provide humanitarian relief to the many households that have been affected. It has been pleasing to see the NGO community, business and relief organisations joining in working with government to provide much-needed relief assistance.
All these stakeholders have provided food, clothes, blankets, dignity packs and school uniforms to vulnerable families to meet their basic needs. Sheltering services are currently being provided to over 7,000 people in the four most affected districts in KwaZulu-Natal. Work has started to build temporary residences for affected families on state-owned land parcels have been identified in KwaZulu-Natal for possible resettlement.
The Departments of Home Affairs, Health and Social Development have been assisting affected communities to access important services. For example, mobile units are helping those who lost critical documents in the floods to get new smart IDs and to re-issue birth certificates. Mobile health services, including COVID-19 vaccinations, are being provided to people in areas where the physical facilities are not yet fully operational. Mechanisms are in place to pay out the social grants of affected individuals.
Mobile classrooms are being procured so that learning and teaching should not be interrupted for longer than necessary in flood-affected schools.
Work is underway to repair damaged waste water treatment works, pump-stations and reticulation. Damaged roads are being repaired. Eighteen new bridges are planned as part of the Welisizwe Rural Bridges programme.
There has also been considerable progress in fixing key infrastructure supporting the Port of Durban. Given the importance of the port to the national and continental economy, port traffic has been restored, terminal operations are back at full capacity and work to repair damaged rail infrastructure is underway.
Additional measures are being put in place to provide financial support to both big and small businesses in distress. This is needed as a matter of urgency to ensure that businesses can stay afloat and that jobs can be sustained.
At different times in our democracy’s history, we have been confronted with events and circumstances that have severely tested the resolve of our people and the effectiveness of our institutions.
Over the last month, we have seen extraordinary solidarity and support to affected communities in KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape and North West. Municipal and provincial governments have been working closely with national departments and agencies to enable people to rebuild their lives and to get local economic activity back on track.
They have been working with all stakeholders in all of these areas to ensure that we effectively coordinate recovery efforts and that we plan and rebuild in a manner that is more resilient to extreme events of this nature in the future.
The perseverance of affected communities, their determination to succeed and their ability to rally together in times of crisis has been an inspiration. We salute all those who have been part of the effort to help the people of the affected provinces.
As government, we are mobilising all available resources and undertaking every effort to ensure that, as we rebuild, no-one is left behind.
With best regards,
President Cyril RAMAPHOSA