For the first time in democratic South Africa, the SONA was delivered under a Government of National Unity.
This State of the Nation Address is taking place as we celebrate 70 years since the adoption of the Freedom Charter at the Congress of the People in Kliptown.It sets out a vision of a united, non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and prosperous South Africa.
In the face of these challenges, we are witnessing the rise of nationalism and protectionism, the pursuit of narrow interests and the decline of common cause.But we are not daunted. We will not be deterred.We will speak with one voice in defence of our national interest, our sovereignty and our constitutional democracy.
Through partnership, we overcame a devastating pandemic and rebuilt our country in the wake of state capture. As political parties, we have set aside our differences and agreed to work together for the good of all South Africans. We will introduce a graduate recruitment scheme so that we may attract the best and the brightest into the public service.In many cities and towns across the country, roads are not maintained, water and electricity supply is often disrupted, refuse is not collected and sewage runs in the streets.
We will review the funding model for municipalities as many of them do not have a viable and sustainable revenue base. As we work to reform the public service and build the capability of the state, we will harness technology to transform the way that government works. Through the Infrastructure Fund, twelve blended finance projects worth nearly R38 billion have been approved in the last year.Construction of the Mtentu Bridge construction continues.
Our immediate focus is to enable Eskom, Transnet and other state-owned enterprises that are vital to our economy to function optimally. We will ensure public ownership of strategic infrastructure for public benefit while finding innovative ways to attract private investment to improve services and ensure public revenue can be focused on the provision of public services.The measures we have implemented through the Energy Action Plan have reduced the severity and frequency of load shedding, with more than 300 days without load shedding since March 2024.
We will mobilise private sector investment in our transmission network to connect more renewable energy to the grid. Open access to the rail network will allow train operating companies to increase the volume of goods transported by rail, while our network infrastructure remains state owned. Many people in our cities, towns and villages are experiencing more and more frequent water shortages as a result of failing water infrastructure.We are therefore taking a series of decisive actions to resolve the water crisis, to enable our people to get water where they live, whether in townships or rural areas.To date, the Infrastructure Fund has secured R23 billion for seven large water infrastructure projects.
Through the Water Services Amendment Bill, we will introduce a licensing system for water service providers and remove licenses where providers do not meet the standards for quality drinking water. We will set up a transformation fund worth R20 billion a year over the next five years to fund black-owned and small business enterprises.
The employment stimulus has created almost 2.2 million work and livelihood opportunities through innovative models that provide high-quality work to participants.It has supported more than 12,000 participants to enter entrepreneurial activities. We are working towards the full implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area, which will tear down the barriers to trade on our continent.
We are on track to implement a new, modern and transparent mining rights system this year, which will unlock investment in exploration and production.By beneficiating these minerals here in South Africa, we can make use of the extraordinary wealth that lies beneath our soil for the benefit of our people.
We will grow tourism through our visa reforms, through increasing the number of flights to key destinations, and through marketing South Africa as the best country in the world to visit. To build an innovative economy, the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation will establish an Innovation Fund to provide venture capital to tech start-ups that emerge from our higher education institutions.
Last year, over 900,000 students from poor and working class backgrounds received funding to study at universities and colleges.We are providing the means through which South Africans can rise above the poverty that has been passed down from one generation to the next.We must do much more to ensure that women in particular no longer face a hopeless struggle to feed and clothe their children.
Central to our efforts to end poverty and to develop our economy is to provide decent, quality education to every young South African. To achieve this, we are implementing mother tongue based bilingual education to improve literacy and numeracy outcomes, and rolling out lesson plans, reading books and other interventions that have been proven to work.
To ensure that the economy has the skills it needs, we are increasing the production of artisans through TVET colleges. Other projects are at various stages of design and development. This includes the replacement of three existing old central hospitals, three new central hospitals, five new district hospitals, five community health centres and a new psychiatric hospital.
To ensure that we reach our target of 95-95-95, we will this year launch a massive campaign to look for an additional 1.1 million people who are not on treatment. To tackle inequality, we need to undo apartheid spatial planning, which has scarred our cities and forced many people to live far from areas of work and opportunity.
We are redesigning our housing subsidies and directing more funding towards programmes that enable people to buy or rent a home in an area of their choice.We are working with provinces and metros to reclaim buildings that have been hijacked in the city centres and repurpose them for public use. This represents a fundamental rethink of how the state delivers housing at scale while turning our cities into engines of growth and opportunity.
We are intensifying Operation Shanela, which has been successful in arresting suspects, recovering firearms and seizing stolen vehicles.I have asked the Minister and the National Commissioner of Police to prioritise reducing gun-related crime and violence. We are working on adopting surveillance, analytics and smart policing solutions for modern law enforcement.By using AI in its fraud risk detection and verification work, SARS has prevented the leakage of over R95 billion in impermissible refunds, recovered R20 billion in revenue and dismantled an illicit tobacco and gold scheme.We have promulgated the National Council on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide Act, establishing a national structure to oversee a coordinated response to this crisis.
We are making steady progress in the implementation of the recommendations of the State Capture Commission, including signing into law several legislative reforms. We will finalise the whistleblower protection framework and introduce the Whistleblower Protections Bill in Parliament during this financial year.
The key pillars of our foreign policy remain the promotion of human rights, peace and friendship and the strengthening of fair trade and investment ties with other countries.We have chosen the theme of solidarity, equality and sustainable development to underscore the need for cooperation and partnership among the countries of the world.
Since the advent of democracy, we have been instrumental in restoring stability in countries like Côte d’Ivoire, Burundi, South Sudan and Lesotho. We will attend the Joint Summit between SADC and the East African Community scheduled to take place in Tanzania this weekend, where we will reiterate our call for a ceasefire and a resumption of talks to find a just and enduring solution.
We are fully committed to the articles of the United Nations Charter, including the principle that all members shall settle their international disputes by peaceful means. South Africa continues to advance its agenda of cooperation and multilateralism through its membership of the United Nations, African Union, the Non-Aligned Movement and BRICS group of countries.
With a view to explaining the many positions that we have taken and in particular the objectives we wish to achieve during our Presidency of the G20, I have decided to send a delegation of government and other leaders to various capitals on our continent and across the world.
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