{"id":95826,"date":"2026-02-13T16:36:04","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T16:36:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/jobs-and-debt-reduction-top-agenda-in-presidents-address"},"modified":"2026-02-13T17:24:39","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T17:24:39","slug":"jobs-and-debt-reduction-top-agenda-in-presidents-address","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/jobs-and-debt-reduction-top-agenda-in-presidents-address","title":{"rendered":"Jobs And Debt Reduction Top Agenda In President\u2019s Address"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>President Cyril Ramaphosa has delivered his State of the Nation Address (SONA), listing some of the government\u2019s major wins over the last year.<\/p>\n

Ramaphosa says the country has seen an economy that\u2019s showing signs of positive growth, and his administration is also strengthening its anti-corruption fight and has rescued key institutions from \u201cstate capture\u201d.<\/p>\n

This was Ramaphosa\u2019s second SONA under the Government of National Unity (GNU), which has placed economic growth and reducing unemployment at the centre of government\u2019s strategy.<\/p>\n

Last year\u2019s SONA centred mainly on three pillars for the 7th administration, with economic growth, job creation, and creating a capable state at the top of the agenda.<\/p>\n

This year, government will continue in the same vein, with job creation and tackling stubborn unemployment being key priorities.<\/p>\n

President Ramaphosa also reminded the joint sitting that the country\u2019s economy continues to grow after implementing a variety of reforms.<\/p>\n

“While we have experienced four consecutive quarters of GDP growth, we know that it has to grow much higher and much faster to meet our social and economic challenges.”<\/p>\n

The President also says the country is working hard to address its debt challenge.<\/p>\n

“We are on a clear path of stabilising our national debt. The Rand has strengthened against the Dollar. The Johannesburg Stock Exchange has performed exceptionally well over the past year.”<\/p>\n

In the fight against crime, Ramaphosa announced that he will be deploying the SA National Defence Force to help fight rising crime and illegal mining in provinces like Gauteng and the Western Cape.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About South-Africa<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. President Cyril Ramaphosa has delivered his State of the Nation Address (SONA), listing some of the government\u2019s major wins over the last year. Ramaphosa says the country has seen an economy that\u2019s showing signs of positive growth, and his administration is also strengthening its anti-corruption fight and has rescued key institutions from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":95825,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,12],"tags":[275],"class_list":["post-95826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-policy","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nJobs And Debt Reduction Top Agenda In President\u2019s Address - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"President Cyril Ramaphosa has delivered his State of the Nation Address (SONA), listing some of the government\u2019s major w ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/jobs-and-debt-reduction-top-agenda-in-presidents-address\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jobs And Debt Reduction Top Agenda In President\u2019s Address\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"President Cyril Ramaphosa has delivered his State of the Nation Address (SONA), listing some of the government\u2019s major w ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/jobs-and-debt-reduction-top-agenda-in-presidents-address\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-13T16:36:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-13T17:24:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2026\/02\/sm_1770990761.798453.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/jobs-and-debt-reduction-top-agenda-in-presidents-address#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/jobs-and-debt-reduction-top-agenda-in-presidents-address\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Jobs And Debt Reduction Top Agenda In President\u2019s Address\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-13T16:36:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-13T17:24:39+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/jobs-and-debt-reduction-top-agenda-in-presidents-address\"},\"wordCount\":281,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/jobs-and-debt-reduction-top-agenda-in-presidents-address#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2026\/02\/sm_1770990761.798453.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"South-Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/jobs-and-debt-reduction-top-agenda-in-presidents-address#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/jobs-and-debt-reduction-top-agenda-in-presidents-address\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/jobs-and-debt-reduction-top-agenda-in-presidents-address\",\"name\":\"Jobs And Debt Reduction Top Agenda In President\u2019s Address - 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