Ramaphosa: ‘No magic wand’ to fix economy

Ramaphosa replied to the debate on his State of the Nation Address in the National Assembly on Wednesday.

Opposition parties lashed Ramaphosa’s address during Tuesday’s debate, with many focusing on his call for South Africans to dream of building new smart cities and bullet trains.

"Over the last 18 months, we have been on a path of recovery, working to address our shortcomings and put in place what is needed for inclusive growth and job creation. Right now, as several Honourable Members have observed, our most pressing task is to restart the economy and create jobs. We are addressing this through our focus on economic transformation and job creation.

"There are no short cuts or quick fixes and if there ever was a notion that we would have a magic wand and change the trajectory of our economy overnight, I should disappoint you and say it is not going to be the case. It is going to take time and a great deal of effort," Ramaphosa said.

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He added that plans are already in place to hold a second investment summit in November, as commitments that were made at the first one in 2018 have yielded positive results.

Ramaphosa said the government is turning around state-owned entities such as Eskom.

"We are closely engaged with the situation at Eskom, assisting the entity with the implementation of its 9-point-plan, putting in place a world-class executive team, strengthening the board and setting out in detail a comprehensive roadmap for Eskom into the future."

He pointed to the work being done at state-owned enterprises to fix governance and deal with the looting of state coffers through the state capture.

Ramaphosa admitted that it’s going to be a painful process to fix the economy, but believes the stimulus package he announced last year will bring down the high unemployment rate.