FROM THE DESK OF THE PRESIDENT
Monday, 20 March 2023
LET US SAFEGUARD THE HARD-WON FREEDOMS IN OUR BILL OF RIGHTS
Dear Fellow South African,
One hundred years ago, in May 1923, the first bill of rights in South Africa’s history was adopted by the African National Congress. It had no legal standing at the time, but it clearly expressed the desire for the equal rights of all people to be recognised and guaranteed.
After many decades of bitter struggle, these freedoms were enshrined in the Bill of Rights of our democratic Constitution. Therefore, as we gather tomorrow to celebrate Human Rights Day, we should recall that the rights we enjoy today are the result of great sacrifices. Many people were imprisoned, many were driven into exile and many lost their lives so that our basic human rights are protected and upheld.
Given our country’s repressive past, some of the most valued of those rights are the rights to freedom of expression and association. Our Constitution guarantees every person “the right, peacefully and unarmed, to assemble, to demonstrate, to picket and to present petitions”.
Particularly as we remember the events of 21 March 1960, when 69 peaceful protestors in Sharpeville were killed by the apartheid police, we need to be resolute in our defence of the right to peaceful protest.
But we should be clear that the right to protest does not give anyone the right to harass, intimidate or threaten anyone else. It does not give anyone the right to damage property or cause harm to any person.
One person’s right to protest should in no way infringe on any other person’s right to life and dignity. It should not impede their freedom of movement and association, or their right to engage in their trade or profession without hindrance.
The Constitution is clear that the state must “respect, protect, promote and fulfil” all the freedoms contained in the Bill of Rights. Therefore, just as the state has a duty to uphold the right to peaceful protest, it has a responsibility to prevent any attempt to violate any of the other rights in the Constitution.
It is well within the right of any person or organisation to call on fellow South Africans to freely join in acts of protest. But no-one should be forced, threatened or intimidated into joining that protest.
In fulfilment of its constitutional responsibility to protect the rights of all people, government will always have measures in place to ensure that everyone who wants to go to work, travel for leisure and conduct business can do so in a safe and secure environment. These measures include the deployment of our security personnel across the country to ensure that law is observed.
The rights that are enshrined in our Constitution cannot be taken for granted. Too many lives have been lost and too many people have suffered so that we may all be protected by a Bill of Rights that applies to all laws and that is the cornerstone of our democracy.
A century after the first bill of rights was adopted in this country, every person in South Africa can now enjoy these freedoms. As this government, we will not allow anyone or any group to take these freedoms away from them.
With best regards,
President Cyril Ramaphosa
FROM THE DESK OF THE PRESIDENT
Monday, 13 March 2023
THE SIZE AND FORM OF GOVERNMENT SHOULD BE GUIDED BY THE COUNTRY’S NEEDS
Dear Fellow South African,
Since I announced changes to Cabinet last week, there has been much discussion about the size of the executive. This is an important discussion and I welcome it. But much of the commentary misses the point.
The discussion has unfortunately been reduced to a head counting exercise. It is argued by some that any decrease in the number of Ministers is good and any increase is bad.
At the start of this administration in 2019, we reduced the number of ministries from 34 to 28. There was therefore much criticism when, last week, we increased the number of ministries for the remainder of this administration to 30. Yet there has been little analysis of why we made these changes and whether they were necessary.
The new ministries I announced last week respond to our current specific needs. As I explained in the State of the Nation Address, we need a Minister to coordinate and drive our response to the electricity crisis. This is a temporary position and the Minister will remain in office only for as long as it is necessary to resolve the crisis. The second new ministry, for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, arises from an appreciation that we need a dedicated focus on ensuring that government effectively implements the programmes that underpin our priorities and is able to fix problems as they arise.
In considering the size of the executive, the question we should be asking is how best should government be organised to meet the country’s needs.
At this moment in our country’s history, when we have vast urgent and pressing developmental needs, when we have to undo the devastating and enduring legacy of apartheid, we need an active and capable, developmental state. It needs to have the resources and ability to tackle challenges like poverty, joblessness, homelessness, illiteracy, lack of social infrastructure and a significant burden of disease.
Countries with developed economies that do not face these problems may well not need such an active state. The size and design of their governments may be very different to ours.
When it comes to building a capable and developmental state, the foremost consideration is how to organise every part of government, including the executive, to effectively implement the electoral mandate.
The country’s needs will change over time and we will learn from our lived experience. Therefore, government has to adapt and be responsive.
By way of example, at the start of this administration we combined the ministry of human settlements with the ministry of water and sanitation. This made sense. The provision of water is closely tied to developing human settlements.
However, as the burden on the country’s scarce water resources continued to increase, with competing demands from a growing population, agriculture, industry and other economic sectors, we decided in 2021 to once again separate the ministries. This is because water is a service and commodity that cuts across all sectors of our economy and goes beyond only human settlements.
While this increased the number of ministries, it has had a beneficial effect on the work of both departments. There has been improved policy alignment and focused implementation. What would have been described as a bad thing by those who count the number of ministries has been good for the provision of vital services.
While the state needs to be configured to meet the country’s needs, account needs to be taken of available resources. Where it is possible to rationalise ministries, departments and other state entities without affecting outcomes, we should do so.
In 2019, we combined a number of ministries. For example, we combined Trade and Industry with Economic Development, Higher Education and Training with Science and Technology, Environmental Affairs with Forestry and Fisheries, Agriculture with Land Reform and Rural Development, among others.
Now we want to go further, to take a deeper look into where there are opportunities to rationalise, merge or separate government departments, entities and programmes. In the State of the Nation Address, I announced that the Presidency and National Treasury would work with other departments to develop a proposal that could be implemented over the next three years.
The Presidential State-Owned Enterprises Council is undertaking a similar exercise. It is conducting an in-depth review of all key SOEs. The Council is guided by the needs of the country and the efficient use of available resources.
We are forging ahead with the process we embarked upon at the start of this administration to build a capable state with entities that add value to government’s programme of action.
In all this work, we are informed by evidence, experience and the availability of resources. We agree that we need an efficient and lean government, but if we become fixated by head counts, we may lose sight of the point of having a capable state in the first place.
With best regards,
President Cyril Ramaphosa
FROM THE DESK OF THE PRESIDENT
BUILDING STRONG, INDEPENDENT INSTITUTIONS IS VITAL TO THE FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION
Monday, 13 February 2023
Dear Fellow South African,
This week will mark five years since we embarked on a new journey in the fight against corruption. In delivering the State of the Nation Address on 16 February 2018, I said: “We are determined to build a society defined by decency and integrity, that does not tolerate the plunder of public resources, nor the theft by corporate criminals of the hard-earned savings of ordinary people.”
I said that if we are to turn the tide on corruption, we must strengthen law enforcement institutions and shield them from external interference or manipulation. Since then, we have made substantial progress in strengthening the state’s ability to deal with corruption.
The first significant step in this effort was the establishment of a Special Tribunal to enable the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to expedite civil claims against corrupt individuals and to recover stolen funds. The Special Tribunal is a court dedicated to proceedings arising from SIU investigations. This strategy of combining investigations with civil litigation has enabled the SIU and the Special Tribunal to recover stolen money.
As of March 2022, the value of civil litigation referred to the High Courts and the Special Tribunal amounted to R75 billion. This is roughly equivalent to what was budgeted for the child support grant this year. Currently, around 119 cases worth more than R12 billion are enrolled at the Special Tribunal.
The second game-changer was the establishment in 2019 of the Investigating Directorate (ID) in the office of the National Director of Public Prosecutions to prosecute serious organised crime and corruption cases.
Since its establishment, the ID has been preparing several cases of serious corruption, including those emanating from the State Capture Commission, for trial. This forms part of the NPA’s priority plan to deal with state capture and high-level corruption.
Last year saw the arrest of several individuals allegedly implicated in ‘state capture’ cases. A total of 187 accused persons have been taken to court in 32 state capture and corruption cases, and approximately R12.9 billion in funds and assets have been frozen.
As we announced in the State of the Nation Address last week, we are about to take yet another important step forward by making the Investigating Directorate a permanent entity within the NPA. This is so that it can deepen its collaboration with other entities in the criminal justice system and enrol more cases in the courts.
Consultations are underway on the legislation to give effect to this and to prescribe its powers and safeguard its independence. This also has implications for its funding and operational capacity.
Currently, the Investigating Directorate’s investigators are seconded from the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, the Hawks. Once it’s made permanent, the Investigating Directorate will be able to improve the capacity of its existing team of specialist investigators and prosecutors and recruit new ones.
We expect that 2023 will be a year of increased activity for the Investigating Directorate as it builds on the sterling work it has done so far.
It has been leading an innovative approach to ensuring accountability from those implicated in state capture. As part of its ongoing criminal investigation into complex corruption at Eskom, the NPA’s Investigating Directorate has finalised a comprehensive settlement agreement with an international company, ABB, to pay over R2.5 billion in punitive reparations to South Africa. The payment will be made into the Criminal Asset Recovery Account. This is reflective of the NPA’s two-pronged strategy to deal with corruption through prosecuting perpetrators and recovering stolen money.
Over many years corruption has systematically weakened the state, damaged key institutions and eroded the country’s social fabric. The Constitutional Court has said that corruption is “the antithesis of the open, accountable, democratic government required by the Constitution”.
Working together with other multidisciplinary units such as the Anti-Corruption Task Team, the Fusion Centre and others, we will strengthen the Investigating Directorate in its work at the frontline in the fight against corruption and state capture.
We set up world class institutions before. Now is the time to rebuild our institutions so that they are able to stand the test of time and advance the values and vision of our constitutional democracy.
This week will mark five years since we embarked on a new journey in the fight against corruption. In delivering the State of the Nation Address on 16 February 2018, I said: “We are determined to build a society defined by decency and integrity, that does not tolerate the plunder of public resources, nor the theft by corporate criminals of the hard-earned savings of ordinary people.”
I said that if we are to turn the tide on corruption, we must strengthen law enforcement institutions and shield them from external interference or manipulation. Since then, we have made substantial progress in strengthening the state’s ability to deal with corruption.
The first significant step in this effort was the establishment of a Special Tribunal to enable the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to expedite civil claims against corrupt individuals and to recover stolen funds. The Special Tribunal is a court dedicated to proceedings arising from SIU investigations. This strategy of combining investigations with civil litigation has enabled the SIU and the Special Tribunal to recover stolen money.
As of March 2022, the value of civil litigation referred to the High Courts and the Special Tribunal amounted to R75 billion. This is roughly equivalent to what was budgeted for the child support grant this year. Currently, around 119 cases worth more than R12 billion are enrolled at the Special Tribunal.
The second game-changer was the establishment in 2019 of the Investigating Directorate (ID) in the office of the National Director of Public Prosecutions to prosecute serious organised crime and corruption cases.
Since its establishment, the ID has been preparing several cases of serious corruption, including those emanating from the State Capture Commission, for trial. This forms part of the NPA’s priority plan to deal with state capture and high-level corruption.
Last year saw the arrest of several individuals allegedly implicated in ‘state capture’ cases. A total of 187 accused persons have been taken to court in 32 state capture and corruption cases, and approximately R12.9 billion in funds and assets have been frozen.
As we announced in the State of the Nation Address last week, we are about to take yet another important step forward by making the Investigating Directorate a permanent entity within the NPA. This is so that it can deepen its collaboration with other entities in the criminal justice system and enrol more cases in the courts.
Consultations are underway on the legislation to give effect to this and to prescribe its powers and safeguard its independence. This also has implications for its funding and operational capacity.
Currently, the Investigating Directorate’s investigators are seconded from the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, the Hawks. Once it’s made permanent, the Investigating Directorate will be able to improve the capacity of its existing team of specialist investigators and prosecutors and recruit new ones.
We expect that 2023 will be a year of increased activity for the Investigating Directorate as it builds on the sterling work it has done so far.
It has been leading an innovative approach to ensuring accountability from those implicated in state capture. As part of its ongoing criminal investigation into complex corruption at Eskom, the NPA’s Investigating Directorate has finalised a comprehensive settlement agreement with an international company, ABB, to pay over R2.5 billion in punitive reparations to South Africa. The payment will be made into the Criminal Asset Recovery Account. This is reflective of the NPA’s two-pronged strategy to deal with corruption through prosecuting perpetrators and recovering stolen money.
Over many years corruption has systematically weakened the state, damaged key institutions and eroded the country’s social fabric. The Constitutional Court has said that corruption is “the antithesis of the open, accountable, democratic government required by the Constitution”.
Working together with other multidisciplinary units such as the Anti-Corruption Task Team, the Fusion Centre and others, we will strengthen the Investigating Directorate in its work at the frontline in the fight against corruption and state capture.
We set up world class institutions before. Now is the time to rebuild our institutions so that they are able to stand the test of time and advance the values and vision of our constitutional democracy.
With best regards,
President Cyril Ramaphosa
FROM THE DESK OF THE PRESIDENT
Monday, 06 March 2023
WE NEED TO WORK HARDER TO CLOSE THE GAP BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN IN THE ECONOMY
Dear Fellow South African,
Later this week, on 8 March, we will join the rest of the world in celebrating International Women’s Day. This is a day to celebrate achievement and progress, but it is also a day to focus on what must still be done to achieve equal rights and opportunities for women.
At the centre of this effort is the economic empowerment of women. We must tackle the many challenges that stand in the way of women’s full participation in economic activity.
From the beginning, we must ensure that girls and young women have equal access to education and an equal chance to succeed. They need to be able to pursue studies of their choice, especially in areas that have traditionally been the preserve of men. One of the achievements of the democratic South Africa dispensation is that girls and boys are equally represented in primary and secondary education. It is significant that last year, more females passed the matric exams and got more distinctions than their male counterparts. There are currently more female students enrolled at institutions of higher learning than males.
This is great progress. But it has yet to translate into the economy, where women are more likely to be unemployed than men. Around half of all women in South Africa are unemployed, including those who have given up looking for work. Moreover, on average, women still earn far less than men.
We must overcome the idea that a woman’s place is in the home. Even women who have jobs are often expected to do housework and childcare, making it more difficult for them to find employment, earn a decent wage, be promoted or start a business.
This is the situation we are determined to change in South Africa and advocate for change across the world.
The economic empowerment of women is an important pillar of our struggle to end gender-based violence and femicide. We have recognised that unequal access to resources and economic opportunity makes it more difficult for women to escape situations of abuse and violence. On the occasion of International Women’s Day, we call on men and women across society to strengthen the fight against gender-based violence.
Globally, South Africa is actively involved in the UN Women’s Generation Equality campaign, which is mobilising countries and people worldwide to achieve gender equality in this generation. South Africa is co-chairing the Action Coalition on Economic Justice and Rights as part of this initiative. Through this we are working for economic transformation that empowers and benefits women. Practically, this means improving access for women to financial services, business opportunities, land and technology.
On the African continent, we are supporting the adoption of a Protocol on Women in Trade to promote the participation of women in the African Continental Free Trade Area. This is a huge opportunity to enable women-owned businesses to benefit from the rapid growth in trade between African countries over the next few years.
South Africa needs to be ready to make use of the opportunities that arise on the continent. As a country, we must shift economic power into the hands of women through, among other things, earmarking 40% of all public procurement for women-owned businesses. To achieve this, government has been providing training to women entrepreneurs so that they can tender for government work and successfully provide the goods and services that government needs. To date, we have trained more than 6,000 women-owned enterprises.
But that is only start. Our ambition is to open up opportunities for women businesses in the broader economy. We held the Women Economic Assembly for the first time in 2021, bringing women-owned businesses and established businesses together to explore partnerships and make deals. The second Women Economic Assembly was held last year.
From these events, opportunities for women-owned businesses are being created in several industries. These include agreements for women farmers to provide large retailers with produce ranging from dried chillies to chicken. A new black women-owned textile manufacturing plant began production in October last year with support from the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC). As part of the commitment of the motor industry to gender transformation, four new car dealerships owned by black women were also launched last year.
As I reported in the State of the Nation Address, the IDC has earmarked approximately R9 billion to invest in women-led businesses. Other entities including the Public Investment Corporation and the National Empowerment Fund have also committed to establish special purpose vehicles to support women-owned businesses.
At the same time as we develop business opportunities, we need to ensure that women and men receive equal pay for work of equal value. Across the economy, women are paid on average less than their male counterparts doing similar work. Ending the gender wage gap must therefore be a priority of all social partners, especially government, business and labour, if we are to achieve an equal and just society.
There are other areas where government is working with partners to improve the economic position of women. The Presidential Employment Stimulus, for example, has provided work and employment opportunities to more than a million people since it was launched in 2020. Of these more than 60% were women. Similarly, of the 140,000 small-scale farmers to whom government provided vouchers to buy seeds, fertiliser and equipment, 68% were women.
These initiatives are making a real difference in women’s lives. They are giving meaning to the commitments we’ve made through Generation Equality and other international and continental campaigns.
On this International Women’s Day, we should celebrate these achievements. But we must also recognise that the gap between the economic position of men and women is still huge. We must use this day to reaffirm our shared commitment to work even harder to narrow that gap and to, within a generation, get rid of it.
With best regards,
President Cyril Ramaphosa
FROM THE DESK OF THE PRESIDENT
Monday, 30 January 2023
WE NEED TO WORK MORE CLOSELY IN THE STRUGGLE FOR AFFORDABLE ELECTRICITY
Dear Fellow South African,
The recent announcement of an increase in electricity tariffs comes at an extremely difficult time for citizens and businesses alike, who are already contending with the high costs of fuel, food and other essentials.
It is in this context that I made a call last week for the Eskom board to consider measures that can help to mitigate the impact of the 18.65% increase from an implementation timeframe point of view.
The new tariff was approved by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) following a prescribed process, which includes wide-ranging public consultation. It is important that we affirm the independence of NERSA and the importance of following the due legal process in setting tariffs.
Tariffs that reflect the cost of producing electricity are necessary for Eskom’s financial sustainability and for the utility to be able to service its debt and to undertake the critical maintenance that is needed to end load shedding.
Yet, there is little doubt that increasing the price of electricity now, at this challenging time, will add to the difficulties South Africans are facing. Rising food and energy prices are fuelling a cost of living crisis around the world, and the poor are being hardest hit. In South Africa, food prices have increased on average by 12% over the past year.
This is the problem we face: we have to ensure that Eskom has the resources it needs to resolve the electricity crisis while protecting South Africans from the effects of higher prices.
There is no simple answer to this problem. That is why all stakeholders, including government, Eskom, business, labour and communities, need to work together to achieve a very difficult balance. At all times, we must be guided by the needs and interests of South Africans, especially the poor, both now and into the future. We should be wary of short-term solutions that we will regret in years to come.
As government we will continue to implement policies and measures to mitigate the hardship being experienced by vulnerable citizens. Since the earliest days of democracy we have implemented a policy of free water and electricity for indigent households. The free basic electricity allowance, if implemented properly by municipalities, should shield the poorest households from the effect of the tariff increase. We remain absolutely committed to this policy.
Other programmes to expand the social wage include the provision of free primary healthcare, exempting learners from poor families from paying school fees, a school nutrition programme that supports over nine million learners countrywide, and the provision of free tertiary education for students from poor families. The zero-rating of basic food products for VAT helps to decrease their cost for the poor.
The national minimum wage, which was introduced in 2019, has improved the remuneration of many workers, especially farmworkers, domestic workers and other vulnerable workers.
Another means by which the state is supporting society’s most vulnerable from excessive price increases is through competition policy. During the pandemic, the Competition Commission used its powers to bring down the prices of COVID-19 tests and suppliers found guilty of overcharging for face masks were fined.
The Competition Commission monitors essential food prices, and recently found that consumers were facing ‘opportunistic increases’ in the prices of sunflower oil, a basic cooking staple for millions of households.
All of these measures provide an important ‘social wage’ that has helped to cushion poor households from the worst effects of rising prices. Government is considering additional mechanisms to address the rising cost of electricity. These include measures such as helping households and small businesses install solar power and energy saving devices, supporting households with rechargeable lights, and working with learners to catch up where load shedding interrupts lessons. We should be able to provide further information on these and other initiatives in the coming weeks.
As we work together to overcome the energy crisis, I call on all South Africans to pay for the electricity they use. We can only improve and expand the provision of electricity and other basic services if government and municipalities in particular have the means to do so. Non-payment and illegal connections make electricity provision more expensive and less reliable.
The global cost of living crisis has been described as a once in a generation economic shock, and it is being worsened by global events that are beyond our control.
As government we will continue with our efforts to expand the social wage, just as we accelerate our efforts to restore a reliable and secure electricity supply. We will continue to pursue closer cooperation with all social partners and public entities to find sustainable ways to shield South African households from the worst effects of rising energy and other costs.
With best regards,
President Cyril Ramaphosa