Ramaphosa pledges jobs, end to power cuts in key speech

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said that an end to crippling power cuts was “within reach” and pledged thousands of new jobs in a key speech ahead of knifeedge elections this year. With his historically dominant African National Congress (ANC) party struggling in the polls, Ramaphosa used a state of the nation address to highlight steps taken to address the prolonged energy crisis that has vexed businesses and families alike.

“We are confident that the worst is behind us and the end of load shedding is finally within reach,” he said, referring to the blackouts, in his speech to lawmakers at Cape Town City Hall.

“But we are not stopping there,” he added, touting new reforms and investments including more than 14,000 kilometers (8,700 miles) of new transmission lines to accommodate renewable energy to be rolled out in the coming years. “With our abundance of solar, wind and mineral resources, we are going to create thousands of jobs in renewable energy, green hydrogen, green steel, electric vehicles and other green products,” Ramaphosa said.

Ramaphosa, 71, is facing an uphill battle to rally support behind the scandal-tainted ANC, which polls suggest risks losing its parliamentary majority for the first time. In power since the advent of democracy in 1994, the party of late anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela has been tainted by graft and mismanagement amid high unemployment and a slumbering economy.

Ramaphosa defended his record, saying his government “made significant progress on measures to grow the economy, create jobs and reduce poverty.” “While we have set in motion the process of renewal and reform, there is more work to be done to see these reforms through to the end,” he said.

But John Steenhuisen, head of the Democratic Alliance (DA), the leading opposition party, said the President was “living in a wonderland”, adding that under his tenure the country had regressed across every single metric. “It is not the lived reality of ordinary South Africans. Our country is desperate and I think those South Africans are very keen for the election,” he told AFP outside the City Hall after the speech.