Ramaphosa urges SA to ‘build like beavers’

President Cyril Ramaphosa used his reply to the debate on the state of the nation address to defend his administration’s reform programme, outline further institutional interventions and caution coalition partners against claiming individual credit for collective work.

Addressing parliament, the president framed his response around the theme of “building”, describing South Africa as “a nation of builders” that “does not run away from problems”.

He urged South Africans to “build like beavers”, arguing that real progress requires “co-ordination, consistency and a shared purpose”.

“So let’s build like beavers: with urgency, with unity and with the quiet determination to make something strong enough to hold — something that lasts and something that shelters more than just ourselves."

He said that while progress remains modest, “the momentum of change is building”, citing improved public finances, lower inflation, declining unemployment and rising business and consumer confidence as signs of recovery.

“Improved economic indicators may seem distant and abstract,” he said, “but they have a real impact on our lives.”

Ramaphosa reiterated that the government had stabilised institutions weakened by state capture, restored “integrity and accountability”, ended load-shedding after more than 15 years of rolling blackouts and reduced debt service pressures that had previously exceeded spending on health or education.

He said Eskom’s average energy availability factor had improved from 56% in April 2023 to around 65% and confirmed a pipeline of more than 220 gigawatts of renewable energy projects.

The next phase of reform, he said, would include establishing “a fully independent state-owned transmission company”, overseen by a dedicated task team reporting directly to him.

“We have effectively ended load-shedding,” he said, adding that the experience of the national energy crisis committee showed that “complex problems need collaborative solutions”.

What will make the greatest difference is accelerated economic growth. A growing economy means expanding opportunity, and it means hope.”

—  President Cyril Ramaphosa

On logistics, the president said the national logistics crisis committee had improved freight rail and port performance and reduced cable theft on the coal line to Richards Bay.

He confirmed that private rail operators would begin operating on the freight network this year, while stressing: “We are retaining public ownership of our strategic national assets.”

Private operators, he said, would function on state-owned infrastructure as part of a mixed economy model.

Ramaphosa confirmed that a national water crisis committee was being established to address municipal water failures and ensure long-term water security.

As in electricity and logistics, the crisis in water has many causes stretching back many years, he said.

The president said reforms would enable greater investment, stronger regulation and faster intervention in dysfunctional municipalities. He added that an overhaul of the local government system was under way through a review of the white paper.

Turning to employment and youth support, the president said more than 2.5-million work and “livelihood opportunities” had been created through the Presidential Employment Stimulus since 2020.

Watch | Cyril Ramaphosa responds to MPs’ Sona debate

He reported that more than 214,000 young people had gained work experience through the Youth Employment Service and that more than 5.7-million were registered on the SA Youth platform, with more than 2-million earning opportunities secured.

NSFAS funding, he said, had nearly doubled from R27bn in 2019 to R54bn in 2024.

“What will make the greatest difference is accelerated economic growth,” he said. “A growing economy means expanding opportunity, and it means hope.”

He confirmed that the government is overhauling the skills development system through a dual training model and finalising a national industrial policy focused on decarbonisation, diversification and digitalisation.

Short-term plans are being developed for distressed sectors, including cement, autos, steel and pharmaceuticals.

On crime, Ramaphosa announced a dedicated initiative to oversee reform of the criminal justice system, modelled on Operation Vulindlela.

The initiative will work with the police, the National Prosecuting Authority and the Special Investigating Unit to drive co-ordinated reform.

“We will not allow the criminals to prevail,” he said. The classification of gender-based violence and femicide as a national disaster, he said, would enable “greater speed” and clearer accountability across all spheres of government.

The president defended broad-based BEE against calls for its removal. “Now is not the time to abandon BEE. Now is the time to make it more effective,” he said.

Now is not the time to abandon BEE. Now is the time to make it more effective.

—  President Cyril Ramaphosa

He cited real income growth among black African, Coloured and Indian households between 2006 and 2023 and a decline in poverty rates over the same period, while acknowledging that the average income of white households remains significantly higher.

Ramaphosa confirmed that the government would review the BEE framework to strengthen its effectiveness in supporting inclusive growth.

Addressing tensions within the government of national unity (GNU), Ramaphosa said that in cabinet “there are no parties” and that no minister or deputy minister should claim GNU achievements as party successes.

“Our successes are the achievements of the collective,” he said, adding that failures are equally shared under the medium-term development plan.

On foreign policy, he said South Africa would pursue a “more assertive” trade strategy amid global instability, align departments around a common trade agenda and focus foreign missions on investment mobilisation. He highlighted South Africa’s chairing of the Southern African Development Community, its election to the AU Peace and Security Council and its leadership of the AU’s South Sudan mediation mechanism, stating, “Africa is our destiny.”

Ramaphosa concluded by confirming that the national dialogue would unfold across the country this year, led by a multi-sector steering committee and guided by an eminent persons group. Dialogue and partnership, he said, are “woven into the fabric of our society” and central to the functioning of the GNU.