President Ramaphosa Shines Light on National Dialogue

CMS Summaries

Date

2025-02-07

Subject(s)

Central Government and Presidency

Full Text

The Presidency President Ramaphosa has called on all South Africans, united in our diversity, to come together in the National Dialogue to define a vision for our country for the next 30 years. The president made the call during the 2025 State of the Nation Address in Cape Town. "The National Dialogue must be a place where everyone has a voice", he said.   "The National Dialogue must reaffirm that each and every one of us has a role to play in building the nation we want", the president added. "While we may differ on many issues, we agree on one thing: that we need to build a better South Africa and improve the well-being of our people", he declared.  Other developments highlighted by the president include:  adopted the Medium-Term Development Plan (MTDP) in the last week - sets out a clear and ambitious programme for the next five years - actions contained in the MTDP will advance three strategic priorities, namely, drive inclusive growth and job creation; reduce poverty and tackle the high cost of living; and build a capable, ethical and developmental state; strengthening the role of the Public Service Commission in the appointment of key people who direct the affairs of the state, such as Directors-General, Deputy DGs, Chief Executive Officers of state-owned entities (SOEs), board members and other senior positions - will introduce a graduate recruitment scheme to attract the best and brightest into the public service; will work with municipalities to establish professionally managed, ring-fenced utilities for water and electricity services to ensure that there is adequate investment and maintenance - will undertake extensive consultation to develop an updated White Paper on Local Government to outline a modern and fit-for-purpose local government system - will review the funding model for municipalities, as many of them do not have a viable and sustainable revenue base; as part of reforming the public service and build the capability of the state, will harness technology to transform the way that government works - will invest in digital public infrastructure to give South Africans access to government services anytime, anywhere through a relaunched gov.za platform - at the heart of the transformation will be implementation of a digital identity system - measures will transform the relationship between citizens and government and create one government that is accessible to every person at a touch; to create a virtuous cycle of investment, growth and jobs, need to lift economic growth to above 3% - to achieve higher levels of economic growth, undertaking massive investment in new infrastructure, while upgrading and maintaining current infrastructure - developing innovative ways of funding infrastructure - engaging local and international financial institutions and investors to unlock R100 billion in infrastructure financing - revised regulations for public-private partnerships which will unlock private sector expertise and funds - government will spend more than R940 billion on infrastructure over the next three years; in 2025 will initiate a second wave of reform to unleash more rapid and inclusive growth - immediate focus is to enable Eskom, Transnet and other SOEs that are vital to the economy to function optimally - re-positioning these entities to provide world-class infrastructure while enabling competition in operations, whether in electricity generation, freight rail or port terminals - continue with the fundamental reform of SOEs to ensure that they can effectively fulfil their social and economic mandates -includes work underway to put in place a new model to strengthen governance and oversight of public entities - will ensure public ownership of strategic infrastructure for public benefit while finding innovative ways to attract private investment to improve services and ensure public revenue can be focused on the provision of public services; Electricity Regulation Amendment Act, which came into effect on 1 January, marks the beginning of a new era – in 2025 will put in place the building blocks of a competitive electricity market - over time, this will allow multiple electricity generation entities to emerge and compete - will mobilise private sector investment in the transmission network to connect more renewable energy to the grid; revitalising port terminals and rail corridors through the Freight Logistics Roadmap, leveraging private capital to restore them to world class standards - released a Network Statement in December 2024 which, for the first time, will enable private rail operators to access the freight rail system - open access to the rail network will allow train operating companies to increase the volume of goods transported by rail, while network infrastructure remains state owned - will ensure that South African minerals, vehicles and agricultural produce reach international markets, securing jobs and earning much needed revenue for the fiscus; taking a series of decisive actions to resolve the water crisis to enable people to get water where they live, whether in townships or rural areas - to date, the Infrastructure Fund has secured R23 billion for seven large water infrastructure projects - within the next year, will complete the setting up of the National Water Resource Infrastructure Agency to unlock much greater investment in water projects - the Water Services Amendment Bill will introduce a licensing system for water service providers and remove licences where providers do not meet the standards for quality drinking water; as part of the reform agenda, will continue to enhance visa system to make it easier for skilled people to invest in the country and to grow tourism – in 2025 will launch an Electronic Travel Authorisation System to enable a secure, fully digital visa application process - system will use AI and automation to reduce the scope for corruption and enable rapid turnaround times for tourist visas; will set up a Transformation Fund worth R20 billion a year over the next five years to fund black-owned and small business enterprises - will fast-track the regulations of the Public Procurement Act to ensure businesses owned by women, youth and persons with disabilities receive equitable opportunities in government contracts; in 2025 will finalise a modernised and comprehensive industrial policy that drives economic growth - will achieve this ambition by focusing on the opportunities in localisation, diversification, digitisation and de-carbonisation; by supporting farmers, improving logistics network and rural supply chains, and opening new export markets for products, we can significantly expand the agricultural sector- want South Africa to be leading in the commercial production of hemp and cannabis; will put in place an enabling policy and regulatory framework for critical minerals - by beneficiating minerals in South Africa, we can make use of the extraordinary wealth that lies beneath the soil for the benefit of our people; the Social Relief of Distress Grant is an essential mechanism for alleviating extreme poverty - will use this grant as a basis for the introduction of a sustainable form of income support for unemployed people; in 2025 will proceed with preparatory work for the establishment of the National Health Insurance (NHI) - includes developing the first phase of a single electronic health record, preparatory work to establish Ministerial Advisory Committees on health technologies and healthcare benefits, and an accreditation framework for health service providers; going forward, will build more housing in city centres and closer to work and business opportunities - re-designing housing subsidies and directing more funding towards programmes that enable people to buy or rent a home in an area of their choice - will release more underutilised state properties for affordable housing development - working with provinces and metros to reclaim buildings that have been hijacked in the city centres and re-purpose them for public use - will review land use, building and other regulations to enable low-cost property development, including backyard housing; and in 2025 the justice and constitutional development department will report on the review of the anti-corruption architecture by the National Anti-Corruption Advisory Council - expected to streamline legislation, eradicate the duplication of mandates and foster greater cooperation between law enforcement agencies - will finalise the Whistleblower Protection Framework and introduce the Draft Whistleblower Protections Bill in parliament during this financial year - will strengthen South Africa’s system to combat money laundering and terror financing with further legislative and system improvements - to secure removal from the Financial Action Task Force grey list, have made significant progress in addressing the weaknesses identified in the law enforcement system, with 16 out of 22 action items fully addressed.