Despite energy crisis, economy is growing: Ramaphosa

President Cyril Ramaphosa says the economy is well on its recovery path, despite rampant load-shedding affecting the performance of businesses.

Ramaphosa made this bold assertion in his weekly newsletter, issued on Monday .

“In the third quarter of this year, real GDP grew by 1.6% and the size of the economy now exceeds pre-pandemic levels. Major industries and sources of job creation such as agriculture, transportation, construction and finance recorded increased economic output. Exports increased by 4.2%,” he said.

While thousands of jobs were lost during the Covid-19 pandemic, more had been created last year, the president said: “1.5-million new jobs were created in the last year. A few months ago, the Presidential Employment Stimulus reached 1-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.”

Ramaphosa also reflected on the measures taken to address the country’s power challenges: “For more than a decade, South Africa has been confronted with a shortage of electricity, with load-shedding now a daily reality. Over the last year we have taken urgent steps to remedy this dire situation by significantly and rapidly increasing the construction of new generating capacity.”

The government had accelerated the procurement of renewable energy and removed many regulatory hurdles to allow for more private-sector investment in energy generation, he said.

“There is now a significant pipeline of embedded generation projects that are preparing for construction. We are working closely with Eskom to improve the performance of their fleet of power stations.”

Reflecting on the challenges faced in 2022, Ramaphosa described it as a “tumultuous” year.

“Like for many people around the world, this has been a tough year for many South Africans. In the first half of the year, we experienced devastating floods in parts of KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape and North West.

“The Russia-Ukraine conflict sent shockwaves through global energy and food markets, leading to supply chain disruptions and rising prices that continue to be keenly felt, including in South Africa. The energy crisis has caused misery for South African households and businesses.”

The Covid-19 pandemic had also brought challenges, he added.

“When we confronted the fear and uncertainty of Covid-19, I said that if we act decisively and together, the pandemic will pass. It has indeed passed, as will the current misfortunes we are experiencing. We are more than capable of bringing about the recovery our country needs.

“From the pandemic [and] the public unrest causing loss of human life and livelihoods, to the energy crisis and several challenges still not resolved, we need to keep closely focused on what needs to be done to make next year better.

“With a difficult year coming to an end, we have good reason to believe things are getting better. Our great country will rise above adversity, as it has done so many times in the past.”

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