“As a people of this great nation, we have much to celebrate as we must reflect on the state of our public affairs. 2019 has been a tough year, as our economy continued to strain, leading to job losses,” Mabuza said.
“We have experienced certain inconveniences visited upon us by a less than predictable energy supply, causing power outages in our homes and areas of work. This has led to an unfortunate disruption of our daily lives. We commit to change this situation for the better.
“We further experienced severe drought in some provinces that have affected agricultural production and impacting on food security and jobs in the sector. In a similar vein, there are many South Africans who lost their homes and belongings due to floods.”
Mabuza said these contrasting natural disasters bore testament to climate change.
“As the government, we will continue to ensure that the impact of these changes is mitigated.”
He said despite these challenges, it had also been “a year of major successes that bring a sense of pride and nationhood”, citing the general elections in May and the government’s comprehensive programme against HIV/Aids and sexually transmitted infections.
“On socio-cultural front, the Soweto Gospel Choir won the Grammy for the Best World Music Album, Miss Zozibini Tunzi won the Miss Universe title, 17-year-old Kealeboga Matsafu was crowned Miss Teen Queen of the Globe for 2019, our netball team was crowned the 2019 Africa champions, the Springboks brought home the Webb Ellis Cup, and the Under-23 football team qualified for the 2020 Olympic Games,” Mabuza said.
“Just as we celebrate these human achievements, in the same breath, we are mindful of the blight of racism, tribalism, violence against women, xenophobia, and homophobia that continue to befall our nation.
“These social ills are in conflict with our values as South Africans. They are an antithesis of a South Africa and a society that we seek to build, in line with our strategic objective of our national liberation movement.”
He said those who “perpetuate these acts of violence and abuse against women, children, older persons and all the vulnerable among us” should be isolated from society.
“We are calling for peace and co-existence among all the people. Our call is for tolerance, especially to those communities grappling with finding peace and resolution to their conflicts. To them, we extend our hand of friendship. We wish them wisdom and strength to navigate their political challenges that have led them to conflict and the displacement of people,” Mabuza added.
He said politicians should work together for the good of the country and their positions were not for posturing and point-scoring.
