Covid pandemic no longer determines how we live our lives: S African Prez

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has said that the country's economy is in a better state than before the COVID-19 pandemic and his government will work to ensure its continuous growth.

The Covid-19 pandemic no longer determines how we live our lives. We have been able to shelter society's most vulnerable from its worst effects," Ramaphosa said in his New Year's address on Saturday.

President said that South Africa's economy is in a better state than before the COVID-19 pandemic and his government will work to ensure its continuous growth.

Our economy is growing again and is now larger than it was before the pandemic. Over the past year, around 1.5 million new jobs were created, he said, while conceding that 2022 had been a difficult year for South Africans.

There have been devastating tragic events that have destroyed both lives and livelihoods. These events have included floods, fatal vehicle crashes, deaths in taverns, dam wall collapses, drownings, fires in informal settlements, and most recently, the terrible explosion of a fuel tanker in Boksburg in Gauteng that killed at least 34 people, Ramaphosa said as he called on citizens to have hope for a better life.

The president highlighted some of the successes of 2022 as the Presidential Employment Stimulus, which has provided opportunities to more than a million citizens; improving the business operating environment and attracting new investment.

He said the government was also working hard to end the crisis of load shedding, which has seen large parts of the country without power for up to eight hours a day in recent weeks.

"The benefits of this work may not be immediately felt, but we should expect that these efforts will steadily reduce the need for load shedding until it is no longer necessary, Ramaphosa said.

He said that over the last year, there had been milestones in the fight against corruption after the State Capture Commission handed over its final report and the government set out a plan to implement its recommendations.

There have been several arrests, prosecutions, and convictions for corruption and cases related to state capture. Significant amounts of stolen funds have been recovered by state-owned companies like Eskom and Transnet, Ramaphosa said.

Among these actions has been the finalising of extradition applications to Dubai for the return of the Gupta brothers, former Indian nationals, who are accused of looting billions from state-owned enterprises through their close association with ousted former president Jacob Zuma.

By working together, we can and will rebuild our country. We can and will improve our economy and improve the lives of our people, Ramaphosa concluded.