Cape Town - President Jacob Zuma has delivered his much anticipated sixth State of the Nation Address, where he gave the country a report of the past five years, in particular, and over the past 20 years in general.
Making it clear that this was not the occasion to present Government’s Programme of Action for this financial year, as that will be presented by the new government after the elections, the President said that South Africa was a better country to live in now, than it was before 1994.
He was quick to point out, however, that the country still faced the triple challenge of poverty, inequality and unemployment, and dealing with these challenges was a focus of all democratic administrations.
He said that the current administration had at the core focused on the five priorities of education, health, the fight against crime and corruption, rural development and land reform as well as creating decent work.
To prepare for the first State of the Nation Address by the incoming administration later in the year, he reported that government has, over the past year, been working on a Medium Term Strategic Framework.
The framework has been designed as the first five-year building block of the National Development Plan, from 2014 to 2019.
“It also incorporates key targets of the Industrial Policy Action Plan, the New Growth Path and Infrastructure Plan.
“The intention is to table the draft framework to the first Cabinet Lekgotla after the elections,” the President said.
The idea is that it will be refined by the new administration in line with its electoral mandate, so that work can start as soon as possible after the formation of a new government.
“It has been an honour for my administration and I to build on the foundation laid by the first three democratic administrations, to serve the people of South Africa.
“As a country, we have scored many successes,” the President said.
He acknowledged that even though the country continued to face many challenges, life for most citizens continued to change for the better. - SAnews.gov.za
