Writing in his latest newsletter, President Cyril Ramaphosa has reflected on what he calls a ‘tumultuous’ and tough year for South Africans.
President Cyril Ramaphosa virtually replying to oral questions during a hybrid sitting of the National Assembly on 30 August 2022. Picture: PresidencyZA/Twitter
CAPE TOWN – President Cyril Ramaphosa has reflected on what he calls a “tumultuous” and tough year for South Africans.
Ramaphosa has also singled out Eskom and the “energy crisis”, saying it has caused “misery” for South African households and businesses.
Writing in his latest newsletter, the president said that the devastating floods caused major disruptions and the Ukraine war also sent shockwaves through global energy and food markets.
President Ramaphosa said that the “difficult” year was coming to an end, with several challenges still not resolved.
He said that the country needed to keep focused on what needed to be done to make next year better.
Ramaphosa said that the events of the past few years continued to cast a “long shadow”, with the global COVID-19 pandemic severely damaging an already struggling economy and public unrest causing loss of human life and livelihoods.
But Ramaphosa remained optimistic, saying that we had good reason to believe things were getting better.
He said that the recovery of the economy and society was under way and despite the electricity challenges, the economy was recording growth with the third quarter GDP growing by 1.6%.
He said that while the country had not recovered all the jobs lost to the pandemic, around 1.5 million new jobs were created in the past year.
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