KEY MESSAGES

SUPPORTING STATEMENTS

The State of our Nation is our rallying point towards building a stronger nation.!

• The State of the Nation Address is an annual message delivered by the President of South Africa to a joint sitting of the two houses of Parliament.
• The address charts government’s vision for building a more prosperous, united and equal South Africa.
• It is an opportunity for the President to update us on the progress that has been made since the last address.
• The President will also reflect on our nation’s most pressing challenges over the year and its impact on lives and livelihoods.
• We are emerging from a difficult year which has impacted our national psyche and taken every bit of our resolve to get us through.
• The disastrous effects of state capture continued to weigh heavily on our nation’s shoulders as it entrenches the many of the challenges we are facing.
• Load shedding has placed an immense strain on the country as people struggle to go about their daily lives and businesses lose money.
• The scourge of Gender-Based Violence and Femicide continued to plague our nation despite the many interventions to protect women in our nation.
• The higher costs of living, stubborn unemployment levels and devastating floods have been felt across the country. During the Address the President details how together we can turnaround our nation. .

All South Africans are invited to be part of this important address.

• Government invites all South Africans to be part of the State of the Nation Address on Thursday, 9 February 2023 at 7pm.
• South Africans can tune into their favourite television or radio station to be part of this national milestone. 
• Proceedings will also be covered via government and parliament social media accounts.
• South Africans should also familiarise themselves with the content of SoNA so everyone can contribute to our growth and development.
• The debate on SoNA which follows shortly after the State of the Nation provides members of Parliament with a chance to respond to the address.

The recovery of our nation is underway.

• South Africans have every reason to be believe in the future of our nation as together we rise above all adversity.
• We have shown on a number of occasions in the past that our great country can triumph over insurmountable odds.
• Our work is supported by the bold measures, strong partnerships and commitment at the highest level to bring about change that benefits every South African.
• We have made strong inroads into building a forward momentum that will inject a new impetus into the economy and society.

Our economy is growing.

• The ERRP is at the heart of our efforts to rebuild and grow our economy from the devastation of COVID-19.
• The plan is working as economic growth figures for the third quarter of 2022 shows that our economy expanded by 1,6%
• Our better prospects flow from the steadfast implementation of our economic programmes and strong political will at the highest-level of government to change our economic trajectory.
• Major industries targeted through our ERRP such as agriculture, transportation, construction and finance recorded increased economic output. Exports increased by 4.2% per cent.
• The size of the economy now exceeds pre-pandemic levels.

Jobs are being created.

• In the last year around 1.5 million new jobs were created and unemployment is at the lowest level in six quarters.
• The Stats SA Quarterly Labour Force Survey for the third quarter of 2022 showed a gain of 204 000 more jobs.
• These positive numbers build on the 648 000 jobs already created between the first and the second quarter of 2022.
• In 2022 our Presidential Employment Stimulus Programme has reached one million participants.
• More than 3 million youth are registered on the innovative SAYouth.mobi platform that connects them with prospective employers.
• We are revitalising the National Youth Service to create work opportunities for 50,000 young people.

We are an investment destination of choice.

• Since the first South Africa Investment Conference in 2018, South Africa has attracted R1.14 trillion in commitments across a wide range of economic sectors.
• The fourth South Africa Investment Conference last year received 80 new investment pledges totalling of R332 billion.
• These investment commitments affirms our nation’s status of an investment destination of choice and places us firmly on the path to exceed our R1,2 trillion investment target over 5 years.
• Around R316 billion of the commitments we have received have already been invested. 45 projects have been completed and a further 57 projects are under construction.
• Investments play an important role in growing our economy and creating sustainable jobs.

Solving our energy challenges is a top priority.

• Loadshedding is beyond an inconvenience, it has dire consequences for nearly every part of our society.
• Over the year a series of interventions have been initiated to lessen the occurrence of loadshedding and bringing new generation capacity online.
• Through our Energy Action Plan we are accelerating the procurement of new capacity from renewables, gas and battery storage.
• In early 2022 government signed agreements for the first three projects under Bid Window 5 of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme.
• The three projects will focus on wind power generation and contribute 420MW of renewable energy to the national grid by end of 2024.
• In December 2022, an additional 13 projects under the 5th Bid Window of the REIPPPP Bid Window 5 were signed.
• We have now concluded 19 out of the 25 announced projects under Bid Window 5, which will add an overall total of 1,759MW renewable capacity to the national grid.
• As part of Bid Window 5, we selected 25 Preferred Bidders in October 2021 to add 2583MW of renewable energy to the country’s grid.
• Through Bid Window 5, government will procure 2600MW of energy, consisting of 1600MW onshore wind and 1000MW Solar PV plants.
• Government has also opened Bid Window 6 for potential bidders to register to be part of the renewable energy IPP procurement programme.
• In December 2022, government announced the Preferred Bidders appointed under the 6th Bid Window of the REIPPPP. 
• Five Solar PV projects have been appointed as Preferred Bidders, at a total of 860MW and an eligible 6th bidder has also been identified in order to fill the remaining gap up to 1,000MW.
• We have removed many of the regulatory hurdles to greater private investment in embedded generation and there is a significant pipeline of embedded generation projects that are preparing for construction.
• The raising of the licencing threshold to 100 MW unlocked more than 80 confirmed private sector projects with a combined capacity of over 6 000 MW.
• We are working closely with Eskom to improve the performance of their fleet of power stations.

We’ve taken the fight to the corrupt.

• Several corruption-related cases have been enrolled in our courts and convictions have been secured.
• The SIU Special Tribunal has expedited the recovery of stolen funds and since its establishment recovered over R8.6 billion.
• The Investigating Directorate within the National Prosecuting Authority has enrolled 26 cases, declared 89 investigations and 165 accused persons have appeared in court for alleged state capture-related offences.
• Our law enforcement agencies have granted freezing or preservation orders to the value of R12.9 billion.
• A total of R2.9 billion has been recovered and SARS has collected R4.8 billion in unpaid taxes arising from the work of the State Capture Commission.
• Analysis by the Financial Intelligence Centre has identified 595 individuals and 1 044 entities that may be implicated in the flow of funds from state capture. 
• Multi-disciplinary units that bring together a range of law enforcement agencies are identifying more implicated individuals and entities and preparing cases against them.
• The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (the Hawks), the National Prosecuting Authority and the Special Investigating Unit are making strong progress to hold corrupt individuals to account.
• The State Capture Commission has concluded its work and government’s has submitted its detailed implementation plan of the commission’s recommendations to Parliament.
• Plans are in place to make the Investigating Directorate in the NPA that deals corruption-related offences a permanent structure.

Gender-based violence is receiving government’s highest attention.

• Last year three key pieces of legislation, the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences Related Matters) Amendment Act, the Criminal and Related Matters Amendment Act and the Domestic Violence Amendment Act were signed into law.
• These laws afford greater protection to survivors of gender-based violence and ensure that perpetrators are no longer able to use legislative loopholes to evade prosecution.
• Various centres have been created through the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development to add to the increase of Thuthuzela Care Centres across the country.
• The Presidency has taken the lead in ensuring that the National Strategic Plan is institutionalised across all organs of state. 
• Presidential Summit against Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) held in November 2022 reflected on progress made in the implementation of declarations proposed during the 2018 Presidential Summit.

The President has a constitutional responsibility to address the nation.

• The president calls a joint sitting of Parliament so he can deliver his State of the Nation Address in line with his constitutional duty.
• The State of the Nation Address is an official government event which should be respected.
• During the State of Nation Address the president is not expected to answer questions or deal with any other business.
• The debate on the State of the Nation Address will provide members of Parliament with a chance to respond to the address.
• South Africans should protect the integrity of Parliament as it is one of the most important pillars of our democracy.
• An effective Parliament responds to the needs of the people to create a better life for all.