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As South Africa marks 30 Years of Freedom, citizens have been urged to remember how far government has come in improving the lives of South Africans and undoing the damaging legacy of apartheid.

“As we mark 30 Years of Freedom, we must not exercise our reflections and recollections without remembering exactly where we’ve come from or without acknowledging what has confronted us as a society in our journey to here,” Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said in Cape Town.

Addressing a joint debate on the State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Wednesday, the Minister said despite the global economic meltdown of 2007 and 2008 as well as the COVID-19 pandemic, government has continued to provide economic opportunities for citizens.

“Tintswalo or the Black Diamonds as they are generally referred to or the national breadwinners as they called themselves during the COVID19 vaccination period, continue to lead the installation of digital connectivity in deep-rural KwaZulu-Natal and other provinces. They work as young black and women engineers at our power stations,” the Minister said.

She said government has also provided opportunities for young people to work side by side to create a sovereign launch capability that has allowed the country to take satellite technologies into space and they are the bedrock of the more than 10 000 small, medium, and micro enterprises (SMMEs) that are suppliers to the National School Nutrition Programme.

The Minister said that young people are the engineers and contractors behind the more than 750 000 km road network from 525 000 km in 1995.

“Yes, some of the provincial and municipal roads have potholes but we are intervening. Currently South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL) has taken over 2 600 km of roads transferred from provinces so we can use its road construction and maintenance capacity to deliver better roads and with more under consideration,” she said.

She added that in the past five-years, SANRAL has executed projects to the value of R120 billion, which translated to just under 45 000 job opportunities and the participation of almost 6500 black owned SMMEs.

“Just this January, SANRAL announced another R28 billion injection into the industry with the implementation of over 70 projects. SANRAL’s work to improve the country’s road network is complemented by Operation Valazonke aimed at closing potholes on municipal roads across all municipalities. We are aware that some municipalities are progressing faster than others,” Ntshavheni said.

Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa

The Minister affirmed that work is underway to rebuild the network industries to ensure it services the country more effectively.

“Despite the teething challenges, the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) has restored operations on 26 out of 40 commuter rail corridors following disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the criminality that vandalised our rail infrastructure.

“Of these restored service lines, 19 of them are operated with the new trains. PRASA has received 184 new trains that have been built in Nigel, Ekurhuleni. In addition, 276 Metrorail coaches have been upgraded or refurbished, 97 train stations have been refurbished, and 29 cooperatives are responsible for cleaning and basic maintenance of these stations.

“Through the capital spend, PRASA created more than 46 000 job opportunities. Even Transnet is starting to register a turn-around at its operations with the arrival of critical equipment, irrespective of the weather – those containers can be loaded and offloaded at the harbour.”

Promoting public employment

She noted that eight consecutive Quarterly Labour Force surveys have indicated an improvement in the unemployment situation in the country – with 16.7 million people in employment by the end of the third quarter of 2023 – the first to surpass the pre-COVID-19 employment levels.

“Although six million youth are now in employment, the challenge of youth unemployment like the world over remains. It is for that reason that President [Cyril] Ramaphosa led the establishment of initiatives like the Youth Employment Service (YES) in partnership with private-sector partners.

“YES has created over 130 000 work experiences for young people to date. Over 1.7 million work and livelihood opportunities for unemployed South Africans have been created through the Presidential Employment Stimulus, which prioritised predominantly youth and women.”

Key achievements in the stimulus include:

• Employing 1.1 million education and general assistants in 23 000 schools.
• Providing production input vouchers to 180 000 small-scale farmers.
• Providing 29 000 opportunities in environmental management and rehabilitation.
• Employing 107 000 people across 6 500 worksites through the Social Employment Fund.

“The SA Youth Mobi platform was launched, which provides pathways for young people to employment, learning and youth enterprise. To date, over 4.8 million young people have registered on the platform and more than one million have been placed in earning opportunities.

“The National Youth Service has been revitalised, offering young people opportunities to undertake work that builds the community and provides them with skills, self-confidence and work experience. Over 47 000 participants were placed in the first phase of the National Youth Service,” the Minister said.

She said all these achievements have been made possible by South Africans who consider it their duty to be part of transforming the country and undoing the damaging legacy of apartheid.

“The work done during the sixth administration and 30 years under the democratic dispensation is to ensure we leave no-one behind, despite the hand this President’s tenure was dealt,” the Minister said. –SAnews.gov.za