WATCH | Ramaphosa compares adversity Boks faced in retaining World Cup to SA's economic challenges
President Cyril Ramaphosa declared 15 December a national holiday"to be a day of hope, a day of celebration and unity" after the Springboks won the Rugby World Cup for a record-breaking fourth time on Saturday.
"On Saturday night, South Africans watched with pride and joy as our national rugby team, the Springboks, became the world champions for the fourth time since the advent of democracy in our country," said Ramaphosa.As we all watched their progress towards the championship, we marvelled at their resilience and determination to overcome some of the best teams in the rugby world. At moments when their cause seemed lost, they fought back, and they emerged victorious.
"The last three years have been extremely challenging. We are emerging from more than a decade of stagnant economic growth, compounded by the impact of the pandemic." “Our greatest priority has been to reduce the severity and frequency of load shedding to achieve energy security," he said a day after load shedding came back with a bang after a few days of respite.Ramaphosa said the energy action plan that he announced in July last year was showing"positive results, giving us greater confidence that we will bring load shedding to an end.
"Freezing orders of R14 billion have now been granted to the Asset Forfeiture Unit for state capture-related cases. Around R5.4 billion has to date been recovered and returned to the state. "This means that we are now paying more in interest on our national debt than we are budgeting for the police force.
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