APA-Cape Town (South Africa) President Cyril Ramaphosa says South Africa’s economy has made great progress in the past 30 years of democratic rule under the governing African National Congress (ANC).
Presenting his State of the Nation Address (SONA) to a joint sitting of parliament in Cape Town on Thursday night, Ramaphosa said the past three decades have seen millions of people in employment today than there were in 1994 when the country gained independence.
This progress from “dire poverty” has occurred despite the country being dubbed the most unequal society globally by the World Bank, he said.
He said fewer South Africans today go hungry and fewer still live in poverty.
“Our economy is today three times larger than it was 30 years ago. The number of South Africans in employment increased from eight million in 1994 to over 16.7 million now,” Ramaphosa said.
He added: “Over the last two years, the number of jobs being created has been increasing every quarter, and we now have more people in employment than before the (COVID-19) pandemic” hit the country.
He attributed this to the ANC-led government’s decision to fight poverty as one of the highlights of successive administrations over the past three decades.
The result was that the country has now managed to reduce poverty by almost 20 percent since 1994, Ramaphosa said.
NM/jn/APA