President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Opening Remarks on the occasion of his engagement with South African National Editors Forum (SANEF)

Programme Director, Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni,
Chairperson of SANEF, Mr Sbu Ngalwa,
Editors,
Colleagues,
Good afternoon,

I welcome this opportunity to engage once again on issues of national importance, in particular the priorities and tasks outlined in the State of the Nation Address.

Many of these issues have been discussed and debated over the last two weeks, in Parliament, in the media and across society more broadly.

When I introduced the State of the Nation Address, I made the point that this is no ordinary year, and that, therefore, this could be no ordinary SONA.

Instead of outlining the full range of government programmes for the year, we sought to focus on a few overriding priorities.

First, we said, we must defeat the coronavirus pandemic.

The vaccination programme is one of the central pillars of this effort. Last week, we started phase one of the programme with the vaccination of health workers. To date, we have administered over 52,000 vaccines.

Further doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be arriving in the coming weeks, reaching an initial total of 500,000.

As has been reported, in addition to the 12 million doses we will be receiving through the COVAX facility, we have secured furthers doses directly from Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson. Negotiations with other suppliers are ongoing and we are confident that we will be able to secure the quantities required.

Even as the vaccine roll-out gathers pace, it will be necessary to continue to wear masks, social distance and avoid crowded, enclosed spaces.

South Africa has emerged from a second wave of infections and we must now do everything within our means to contain further surges. This is vitally important if we are to restore our economy to full operation.

In the coming weeks, we will be meeting with Premiers, metro mayors and other stakeholders to assess the situation and decide on appropriate measures.

Our second overriding priority is to accelerate our economic recovery.

Our focus on infrastructure investment, public and social employment, localisation, and support to struggling companies and households was reflected in the budget priorities announced by the Minister of Finance this week.

A critical part of our recovery is to use competition law, procurement and sectoral master plans to create space for new entrants and the development of SMMEs.

We remain committed to reducing our sovereign debt in a responsible manner, changing the composition of our spending from consumption towards investment, and sustaining spending on health and education.

Our third priority is to implement economic reforms.

We have already seen progress in areas that have long been stalled, including the expansion of energy generation capacity, digital migration, critical skills and rail and port development.

Through Operation Vulindlela, working with implementing departments and agencies, we expect to see important progress in the coming months. This will help to reduce the cost of doing business and increase the overall competitiveness of our economy.

Our fourth and final overriding priority is to fight corruption and strengthen the state.

Among other things, we have embarked on a process to professionalise the public service. A series of structured consultations are currently underway on various measures to reduce political interference in administration, ensure more stability in the tenure of senior public servants, and introduce more rigorous requirements for appointment and promotion.

Clear progress has been made in rebuilding law enforcement agencies, ensuring that they are better capacitated and coordinating their efforts more effectively. The fight against corruption is gathering momentum.

The State of the Nation Address was presented just four months after we announced the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan.

This SONA was therefore not about presenting new ideas or new plans. It was about reporting on what we’ve done in those four months, what progress is underway and what action we plan to take in the year ahead.

Before I conclude, I would like to commend the media for the vital role you have been playing in keeping South Africans informed during this crisis. This work will become increasingly important as we confront disinformation and unsubstantiated rumours around the efficacy and safety of vaccines.

As a country, we have a huge mountain to climb. 

But we know the path we have to take, we have the means, the will and the stamina, and we have made a solid start.

Thank you again for this opportunity and I look forward to our engagement.