By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
As the nation welcomes the New Year, President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on South Africans to enter 2026 with renewed hope, unity and confidence.
Ramaphosa delivered his New Year’s Eve message on Wednesday.
The president spoke directly to the hearts of South Africans, acknowledging the challenges of 2025 while celebrating collective achievements.
Ramaphosa said poor service delivery, crime and poverty continue to plague large sections of the country.
“It is a matter of concern that many South Africans are unemployed and that poverty and inequality persist. The high cost of living has imposed huge burdens on South African households.
Many communities live in fear of gangsters. Women and children live in fear of gender-based violence and femicide. The delivery of basic services in our cities, towns and villages is often disrupted or does not exist at all.”
The President said these are challenges the government will once again seek to resolve in the coming year.
He pointed to economic recovery, easing inflation, a stronger rand and South Africa’s sovereign credit rating upgrade for the first time in nearly 20 years. According to Ramaphosa, this improvement would allow government to fund infrastructure and social development at lower costs.
He said job creation, particularly for young people, remained a major focus. Programmes such as the Presidential Employment Stimulus, Presidential Youth Employment Intervention and partnerships with the private sector through the Youth Employment Service had created hundreds of thousands of work and training opportunities.
Infrastructure investment was also highlighted as a major priority, with more than R1 trillion budgeted over the next three years to improve roads, ports, rail, energy and water systems.
He highlighted South Africa’s successful hosting of the G20 Leaders’ Summit, the easing of load shedding and the upgrading of the country’s sovereign credit rating as some of the year’s major achievements.