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The State of the Nation Address (SoNA) was recently delivered by President Cyril Ramaphosa who provided feedback on government programmes over the previous year.

The President also unveiled new plans for 2023 and beyond. Vuk’uzenzele unpacks the programmes in numbers.

Employment

• One and a half million – new jobs created in our economy between the third quarters of 2021 and 2022.

• More than one million – people provided with work and livelihood opportunities by the Presidential Employment Stimulus.

The recent announcement of an increase in electricity tariffs comes at an extremely difficult time for citizens and businesses alike, who are already contending with the high costs of fuel, food and other essentials.

It is in this context that I made a call recently for the Eskom board to consider measures that can help to mitigate the impact of the 18.65% increase from an implementation timeframe point of view.

President Cyril Ramaphosa says government is working on mechanisms to improve protection for those who blow the whistle on corruption.

“We are working to capacitate the Witness Protection Unit and will introduce amendments to the Protected Disclosures Act and Witness Protection Act to strengthen protection for whistleblowers,” he said during the State of the Nation Address (SoNA).

President Cyril Ramaphosa has declared a National State of Disaster – with immediate effect – as a response to the current energy crisis facing South Africa.

For a while now, Eskom has been battling to keep the lights on, leading to increased stages of load shedding and a devastating impact on lives, livelihoods and businesses.

The Sowetan newspaper recently carried a front page headlined ‘Unplugged’, listing many small businesses around the country that have been crippled by the electricity crisis. The closure of these businesses shows some of the devastating impact of persistent load shedding on people’s livelihoods and on their dreams for a better life.

South Africans who are interested in upgrading their grade 12 results, taking part in the Second Chance programme, or would like to get good marks in their matric year have an opportunity to be part of the WOZA matric programme.

National Education Collaboration Trust (NECT) and the Department of Basic Education (DBE) joined forces and launched the Remote Digital Learning programme (RDL).

Eskom is looking at the possibility of implementing Stages 2 and 3 of load shedding over the next two years to give power stations room to address maintenance issues and ensure predictability of power for South Africans.

This was according to Eskom Board Chairperson Mpho Makwana who recently spoke during a virtual media briefing on the power utility’s system challenges and a presentation of the power utility’s turnaround plan .