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South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday said that his new coalition government would prioritise economic growth, jobs and the fight against poverty, as he addressed the opening of parliament.
Ramaphosa’s long-dominant African National Congress (ANC) was forced into an uneasy coalition with nine other parties after May’s elections, having lost its absolute parliamentary majority for the first time since democracy in 1994.
“We are committed to improve the well-being of our country and its people through inclusive growth, the creation of jobs and the reduction of poverty,” the president told lawmakers in Cape Town.
Unemployment is at a record 33 percent, with high poverty and crime rates among the country’s woes.
Addressing a joint sitting of the two Houses of parliament after a grand opening ceremony including a display of military pageantry, Ramaphosa, 71, also listed tackling the high cost of living and cutting red tape among his administration’s goals.
“We will massively increase the scale of investment in infrastructure through a more holistic and integrated approach,” he said.
“Red tape debilitates the creation of jobs. Every department and every public entity has been directed to reduce the undue regulatory burdens that hold back businesses from creating jobs.”
Damaged by graft scandals and a poor economic record, the ANC, the party that led the fight against apartheid, won only 40 percent of the votes on May 29.
In striking the unprecedented power-sharing deal, the ANC aligned itself with the centre-right, a move some analysts said would reassure investors.
But the deal has been condemned by the vocal anti-capitalist opposition alliance.
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