President Cyril Ramaphosa on Friday committed the government he now leads to ethical behaviour and leadership.
Delivering the 2018 state-of-the-nation address a day after being sworn in, Ramaphosa spoke of change and renewal after years of criticism against his predecessor Jacob Zuma who resigned under pressure this week.
Zuma's presidency was dogged by controversy and allegations of state capture and criminal behaviour.
There was a reason, Ramaphosa said the year of 2018 was dedicated to Nelson Mandela, who would have turned 100 in July.
"We have dedicated this year to his memory and we will devote our every action, every effort, every utterance to the realisation of his vision of a democratic, just and equitable society. Guided by his example, we will use this year to reinforce our commitment to ethical behaviour and ethical leadership," said Ramaphosa.
In what many interpret as criticism of the Zuma era, Ramaphosa said South Africans should put all the negativity "behind us".
"We should put behind us the era of diminishing trust in public institutions and weakened confidence in leaders," he said.
Ramaphosa also announced that a jobs summit and investment conference within the next few months were among the first steps to be taken under his government in order to accelerate growth, employment and transformation in South Africa.
"We will expect this [jobs] summit to come up with practical solutions and initiatives that will be implemented immediately," Ramaphosa said while delivering his first state-of-the-nation address after succeeding Jacob Zuma, who resigned under pressure this week, as South Africa's new head of state.
"We will make a major push this year to encourage significant new investment in our economy. To this end, we will organise an investment conference in the next three months, targeting both domestic and international investors, to market the compelling investment opportunities to be found in our country."
"We are going to address the decline over many years of our manufacturing capacity, which has deeply affected employment and exports," said Ramaphosa.
"We will seek to re-industrialise on a scale and at a pace that draws millions of job seekers into the economy."
The President said that the December 2017 resolution by the ruling African National Congress (ANC) of expropriating land without compensation will not be taken off the table.
"Government will undertake a process of consultation to determine the modalities of the implementation of this resolution," he said.
"We are determined that expropriation without compensation should be implemented in a way that increases agricultural production, improves food security and ensure that the land is returned to those from whom it was taken under colonialism and apartheid."
Ramaphosa said expropriation should not affect production and jobs, as the agricultural sector made the largest contribution to economic growth in the second and third quarters of last year.
He said the government would be calling on banks to help with the expropriation project.
"We make a special call to financial institutions to be our partners in mobilising resources to accelerate the land redistribution programme as increased investment will be needed in this sector."
Ramaphosa also announced an economic drive to boost agriculture and mining.
He said the government would seek to boost agriculture and since farming needed land as a "basic resource", the government would go beyond the existing willing seller, willing buyer model.
He said mining still offered great economic growth potential and should be seen as a "sunrise and not a sunset" sector.
But he acknowledged the damage policy uncertainty and contestation had caused the mining economy.
He added that therefore he hoped to see a new mining charter that would replace the controversial third iteration of the 2004 Mining Charter, tabled by Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane.
A court challenge to the document by the Chamber of Mines will be heard next week.
Meanwhile, a plan on how the government will fund free higher education for students from households with a combined annual income of up to R350,000 will be announced during next week's budget speech, Ramaphosa said on Friday.
He said his predecessor's announcement in December last year would be implemented as part of phasing in subsidised higher education.
"The Minister of Higher Education and Training will lead the implementation of this policy, while the Minister of Finance will clarify all aspects of the financing of the scheme during his Budget Speech next week," Ramaphosa said.
"In addition to promoting social justice, an investment of this scale in higher education is expected to contribute to greater economic growth, reduce poverty, reduce inequality, enhance earnings and increase the competitiveness of our economy."
(ANA)
