SONA in numbers

Grapple. Strengthen. Plan. These words best define the essence of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address, which laid out strategies for tackling current challenges, for deepening the gains already made on many fronts and for plotting the nation’s course forward.

As the President spoke about the state of the nation, a number of interesting figures emerged:

Investment and job creation

10 – The number of industrial parks in rural or township areas that have been revitalised, with another six to follow.

R1.2 trillion – Government’s five-year investment target.

R300 billion – The sum of investment pledges made at the inaugural South Africa Investment Conference.

R70 billion – The inflow of foreign direct investment in the first three quarters of 2018, compared with the
R17 billion in 2017.

R187 billion – The value of projects being implemented following the investment conference held in 2018.

$3.3 trillion – The combined GDP of the African Continental Free Trade Area.

275 000 – The number of additional direct jobs government’s Presidential Jobs Summit social partners aim to create every year.

250 000 – The number of small emerging farmers who are working the land and need government support to grow.

Small business incubation programme

51 – The number of technology business incubators.

10 – The number of enterprise supplier development incubators.

14 – The number of rapid youth incubators.

Operation Phakisaís Oceans Economy

R30 billion – The sum of investments secured since 2014.

7 000 – Direct jobs created.

R3.8 billion – The expected investment in the sector over the next five years by government. The private sector is expected to invest another R65 billion.

100 000 – The number of direct jobs to be created through Oceans Economy investments. Another 250 000 indirect jobs will be created.

Infrastructure development

More than R1.3 trillion – The amount spent building schools, two new universities, thousands of new houses and electrifying more than a million homes.

R100 billion – The amount government intends investing in the new Infrastructure Fund over a 10-year period.

Housing

500 000 – The number of additional housing units the Housing Development Agency will construct in the next five years.

R30 billion – The amount that will be provided to municipalities and provinces to enable them to fulfil their respective mandates.

Social grants

17.5 million – The number of monthly social grants paid.

Local municipalities

57 – The number of municipalities that have been supported and stabilised.

10 000 – The number of municipal infrastructure projects being implemented.

Welcome to SA!

10 million – Tourists visited South Africa in the past year.

21 million – The target for international tourists by 2030.

2 million – The number of jobs that the sector can create in food and agriculture, construction, transport, retail, and the creative and cultural industries by 2030.

Educating the nation

Nearly 4 000 – The number of schools without appropriate sanitation facilities.

699 – The number of schools provided with safe and appropriate sanitation facilities.

1 150 – The number of schools in the planning, design or construction stages.

700 000 – The number of children accessing early childhood education in the past financial year.

6 – The number of years it will take to provide every school child with digital workbooks and textbooks on a tablet device.

90 – The percent of textbooks in high enrolment subjects across all grades that have been digitised.