WATCH | From jobs creation to GBV: Five key takeaways from President Cyril Ramaphosa's Q&A session

01 November 2019 - 07:35 By Cebelihle Bhengu
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President Cyril Ramaphosa answered questions posed in parliament on October 31 2019. Ramaphosa addressed issues regarding gender-based violence, unemployment among the youth and land reform, among others.

President Cyril Ramaphosa answered questions from opposition parties during a question-and-answer session in parliament on Thursday. Ramaphosa touched on the slow economy, youth unemployment and gender-based violence, among other matters.

Here are five key takeaways from the session:

Economic inequality

“The economy is in a dire situation, and as a country faced with this, we can lament or we can act. We have chosen to act, to confront these challenges and to undertake the painstaking work required to rebuild our economy and restore it to a path of growth.”

Nation-building

“We are working on programmes to reduce cost of living, through, for example, improved public transport and expanding the asset base of the poor through accelerated land reform and the provision of well-located housing. We are working to improve the accessibility of health care for the poor and through the introduction of the National Health Insurance (NHI), to reduce the massive inequalities between public and private sectors.”

Gender-based violence

“When I asked this house to approve the emergency action plan to combat gender-based violence and femicide two months ago, it was in response to a national crisis. Since I announced that government would commit R1.1bn towards the implementation of the plan, National Treasury has written to key departments and entities, asking them to urgently identify funds that can be reprioritized.”

Land reform 

“The panel has called on government to immediately identify well-located and unused or underutilised land and buildings for the purposes of urban settlements and to prioritise poor tenants and upgrade their rights. In line with this recommendation, cabinet has already taken decisions on the release of land for human settlements.”

Jobs creation 

“Since the sixth democratic administration in May 2019, I have attended six international summits, covering both political and economic issues. At the G20 Summit in June, for example, leaders reaffirmed their support for the necessary reform of the World Trade Organization (WTO) to improve its functioning. Through this engagement, we were able to strengthen relationships with the Japanese business community.” 


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