PRESIDENT CYRIL Ramaphosa faces a daunting task as he delivers his much vaunted State of the Nation Address tonight in Cape Town.
Safety and security, July unrest, load-shedding, corruption and Covid-19, job creation and economic recovery, are some of key factors he has to address to the nation and potential investors.
According to Stats SA the unemployment rate is sitting at 34,9%. This is a cause for concern and we need a government, that is innovative, and solutions driven.
President Cyril Ramaphosa needs to urgently address the security, law and order and intelligence weaknesses that has been identified. The recent incidents are impacting South Africa’s international profile negatively, thus affecting the economic infrastructure.
The Travel and Tourism industry will continue to feel the negative knock if we do not address the issue of safety and security, says the worried Nigel Ward, president of the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry NPC.
Ward painfully pointed out that continuation of blackouts that occur because of Eskom’s unit breakdowns are resulting in eThekwini losing R1 million for every blackout.
Ramaphosa enters his third year as the country’s president and he’s already had to deal with rising unemployment, a failed insurrection and of course, the COVID-19 pandemic.
How he plans to deal with unemployment and corruption will be closely watched.
Last year will probably go down as his worst year, with the July unrest which saw over 300 lives lost and billions worth of damage in two provinces.
President Ramaphosa finds himself in a worse position than his predecessor when seeking a second term, with a broken economy and a ruling party even more divided.
Image (This way Mr President. Pres Cyril Matamela Ramaphosa in a very difficult corner).
