(Bloomberg) — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation report was met with predictable skepticism as it laid out the progress the country has made since the end of white rule 30 years ago. But probably the most important thing he didn’t say.
He has promised to expand welfare, but has not specified any campaign spending to alarm investors ahead of elections that run until August.
“There have been no populist promises,” said Busisiwe Mavuso, executive leader of Business Leadership South Africa. “This is an implicit support for the fiscal discipline of the National Treasury, which is key to confidence. »
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While opinion polls show the ruling African National Congress risks losing its majority for the first time since taking power in 1994, Ramaphosa said the country had made massive strides in diversifying the economy and boosting access to health care and education.
“Lives transformed”
“We have transformed the lives of millions of South Africans, providing the necessities of life and creating opportunities that never existed before,” he told lawmakers in Cape Town on Thursday evening.
Critics have taken a diametrically opposed view, arguing that the greatest achievements predate his reign and that citizens still struggle with shoddy hospitals, a 32% unemployment rate, recurring blackouts, logistical problems and widespread corruption.
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“South Africa has, at every level, regressed to a state of decay and decay that has only exacerbated inequality, left millions of people out of the picture and set our country back,” said John Steenhuisen, leader of the Democratic Alliance. the main opposition party.
Read more: Ramaphosa vows to increase social benefits ahead of elections
In his defence, Ramaphosa took office after the disastrous nine years of Jacob Zuma’s rule, in which state coffers were looted and key establishments emptied, a procedure known as state capture that proved to be a mammoth task to reverse.
The outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 also undermined efforts to revive the economy, as did herbal blunders and the fallout from Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“I believe progress has been made on critical issues such as energy, logistics, crime and corruption,” said Iain Williamson, managing director of Old Mutual Ltd. “I think we’ve taken a step forward, with cautious optimism that we’ll continue to improve. But I think we want innovations to happen a lot faster.
Here are some of the government’s key achievements highlighted through Ramaphosa:
Social protection
Economic Opportunities
Crime
Investment
Energy
Logistics
“Adélaïde Changole’s. “
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