President Cyril Ramaphosa noted on Monday that despite the “great difficulties” South Africa has experienced, government has persevered with reform and recovery, to grow an inclusive economy and create jobs.

Ramaphosa wrote in his weekly letter to the nation that as South Africans reflected on the country’s journey this Freedom Month, citizens knew that South Africa was not as far transformed or developed as it had hoped to be.

He said while government had done much to undo the devastating legacy of apartheid, it had confronted other challenges, such as the global financial crisis as well as local challenges.

“In recent years, as we sought to recover from more than a decade of low growth and the era of State capture, our progress was interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, which led to the loss of more than 100 000 lives in our country and caused the greatest contraction of our economy in decades. The public unrest in July 2021 and the catastrophic floods in parts of the country the following year led to further loss of life and destruction of property and infrastructure,” he said.

He noted that while these events severely hampered the government’s collective efforts to rebuild the country, they also showed the resilience of the South African people.

Ramaphosa explained that citizens had continued to work together to overcome the crises of unemployment, poverty, inequality and underdevelopment.

“These challenges impact on the lives of millions of people and undermine the dignity that we have worked throughout our democracy to restore,” he said.

He maintained government’s resolve to move forward with optimism, aassuring citizens that government was determined to go further to achieve the “free, just and equal South Africa” for which millions voted on Freedom Day 30 years ago.

YOUNG SOUTH AFRICANS IN DEMOCRACY

On Saturday. South Africa celebrated the thirtieth anniversary of the country’s first democratic elections, with Ramaphosa expressing confidence in young South Africans born into democracy.

He said democracy’s children were self-assured about their human rights, citizenship, role and place in society, and their own potential.

He said that what struck him during interactions with young South African men and women born into democracy was the confidence they exuded, secure in the knowledge that their dignity was respected and protected.

He said in South Africa today, equal access to quality education had enabled black children to become CEOs of companies, professors, engineers and fighter pilots.

“Young South Africans, our nation’s future, are making their mark in the workplace, in arts, culture and music, in academia, in the high-growth tech and IT sectors, and in serving their communities,” he added.

He said young South Africans were also politically astute and civically engaged, explaining that some 77% of new voters registered in preparation for the upcoming election were young people under the age of 29.

Ramaphosa stated that when he met with young people born into a free South Africa, and when he looked at the changes the country had undergone over the past 30 years, he felt a profound sense of gratitude.

“I am grateful that they will never have to endure the humility and indignity of previous generations, of being forced to sit on separate park benches, dispossessed of their land, denied opportunities for advancement and of being pariahs in the land of their birth,” he said.