Pretoria - Some Pretoria residents say they approve of the vision for the country President Jacob Zuma outlined in his State of the Nation Address last night.
Tiisetso Mongalo, an unemployed graduate from Turfloop, Limpopo, welcomed the President's announcement on a massive infrastructure development plan, saying the move would address the backlog of underdevelopment.
Zuma on Thursday announced that South Africa would spend billions of rands over the coming years on new infrastructure, with the government to focus on building rail, road and economic links in five regions in the country, and building new universities and refurbishing hospitals.
The government's massive infrastructure plan will be driven and overseen by the Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Commission, which was set up in September last year.
Mongalo, 23, who has come to Pretoria to find employment, said: "His vision was profound. Infrastructure development needs more attention as a lot of delivery protests are sparked by lack of service delivery - which includes a lack of infrastructure, among others."
Thomas Chauchau, a security officer in the city centre, said he was happy that more jobs would be created through the infrastructure plan. However, he was concerned that these jobs should not be on a short-term, contractual basis.
"When the projects are completed, people become unemployed again, so it's a setback."
He stressed that rural development should be prioritised, especially in Limpopo and the Eastern Cape.
Gift Ngobeni, a journalism student at Tshwane University of Technology, was happy with the President's announcement that R300 million will be set aside to build new universities in Mpumalanga and Northern Cape.
"This will be a relief for prospective students and will [prevent] situations like the recent University of Johannesburg stampede," said the 24-year-old from Soshanguve.
However, he had hoped government would pay more attention to financial assistance for students.
Hlezi Motha, who is studying communication science at Unisa, was happy that the Kusile power station would soon be operational. "The new power stations will prevent blackouts."
Motha, however, would have liked the President to have said more on corruption. "Corruption is increasing at an alarming rate and is part of our daily lives, so it should be given more attention."
