While strides have been made to better the lives of
ordinary South Africans, the road ahead to true freedom
and an inclusive economy that serves all the people is
still long, says President Cyril Ramaphosa.
¡@
Speaking on Friday, 27 April 2018, at government's
official Freedom Day celebrations at Dr Petrus Molemela
Stadium in Bloemfontein in the Free State, the President
said the challenge of hunger and unemployment still
remained.
Twenty-four years into democracy, the huge gaps in
wealth and opportunity between white and black and men
and women persist and continue to widen.
¡§Our people cannot be truly free if they do not have
jobs, an education and livelihoods,¡¨ President Ramaphosa
said.
He acknowledged that democracy did not automatically
heal the divisions of the past and that the country must
work resolutely to remove the obstacles that still
divide it.
The President used his address at the packed stadium to
affirm government¡¦s determination to intensify the
struggle for economic freedom for all.
He said if the country was to end poverty, the economy
must grow to create decent work.
¡§We need to attract investment on a much greater scale
and we need to improve the education and skills of our
people. At the same time, we need to transform the
ownership, control and management of the economy so that
black South Africans and women are fully represented and
equally benefit.
¡§In short, we need to intensify radical economic
transformation,¡¨ President Ramaphosa said.
Attracting investment
Government has already begun a new investment drive that
aims to draw local and international investors into
parts of the economy that have the greatest potential
for job creation. This includes the appointment of four
special envoys on investment to engage both domestic and
foreign investors around economic opportunities in South
Africa.
These envoys are mandated to attract investment in a
focused and cost-effective manner and will culminate in
a major Investment Conference towards the end of the
year to raise more than R1 trillion in new investments
over five years.
President Ramaphosa said government was also working to
make the South African economy more competitive and
attractive to investors by sustaining investment in
infrastructure such as roads, bridges, railway lines and
ports, as well as schools, hospitals, colleges and
clinics.
¡§We are fixing our state-owned enterprises, ensuring
that they can meet essential social and economic needs
more efficiently and cost-effectively. We are using
industrial incentives, special economic zones and local
procurement requirements to expand our manufacturing
capacity.¡¨
Government is also working to deracialise the economy by
strengthening Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment
policies, investing in black industrialists, opening up
markets for new black entrants through more effective
competition policies and using the buying power of the
State to support black business.
Year of Nelson Mandela
Freedom Day was held under the theme¡¨
¡§The Year of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela: Towards the Full
Realisation of our Freedom through Radical
Socio-economic Transformation¡¨.
The event was complete with a full military parade,
including a national salute, guard of honour by the
National Ceremonial Guard, 21-gun salute and a salute
flight by three A109 Agusta helicopters.
President Ramaphosa described the first democratic
election on 27 April 1994 as the culmination of a dream
for which many in the country, the continent and across
the entire world sacrificed.
¡§We remain grateful for the solidarity and assistance
that we received from the international community and
are determined that we ourselves should be champions of
democracy, peace and human rights across the world,¡¨
said the President.
Looking ahead, President Ramaphosa said government had
an opportunity to make remarkable strides in advancing
the country.
¡§Our duty, as custodians of this democracy, is to direct
all our resources to conquer poverty, joblessness,
racial hatred, anarchy, violence and lawlessness,
illiteracy and idleness and place our country on a path
of growth, development and lasting freedom.¡¨
¡V Source:
SAnews.gov.za |