By Brian Okoth
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has declared December 15, 2023 as a public holiday to allow the country celebrate the Springboks' Rugby World Cup win.
Addressing the nation on Monday, Ramaphosa said the holiday, which he had pledged should the Springboks win the World Cup, has been delayed to allow one million students sit the National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations.
The exams are being held between October 30 and December 6.
"We should all agree to give our students time to focus on the exams and celebrate with them afterwards," Ramaphosa said, adding that a sooner public holiday would "disrupt their (students) ability to focus on exams."
The head of state said that December 15 will be a "day of hope, celebration and unity."
Triumphant return
Ramaphosa said that the Springboks, who beat New Zealand 12-11 in the Rugby World Cup final on Saturday, will return home on Tuesday, October 31, and will hold a week-long victory parade.
"I will receive them at the Union Buildings (in Pretoria) later this week," he said.
He added that the country was celebrating the historic win because "sports showed us what is possible."
Ramaphosa also applauded the country's cricket team, which is participating in the Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 in India.
"They have been performing well in the Cricket World Cup. I intend to fly to Mumbai, India to watch them play in the finals," he said, adding: "The determination and resilience of our sporting teams have given credence to the words that sports unites the nation."
'Stronger together'
"We have seen how the victories that the Springboks have achieved have helped to unite our people. We are indeed stronger together."
During his address, the president also spoke about the country's economy, saying there was a slow economic growth occasioned by heavy public debt and an electricity crisis.
"The last three years have been extremely challenging," Ramaphosa said, citing stagnated economic growth and the COVID-19 pandemic, which "affected two million jobs."
South Africa has been experiencing a power crisis that often leaves homesteads and businesses without electricity for many hours. Ramaphosa attributes the crisis to "corruption."
He, however, said that new regulatory reforms have resulted in a steady decline in load-shedding, a term used in South Africa to refer to power disruption.
"There are clear signs that our efforts are showing results – electricity supply is improving, jobs are being created, roads and bridges are under construction and proceeds of state capture are being recovered," he said.
Measures
The president said measures have been put in place to spur economic growth, including allocating 50 billion South African rand ($2.7 billion) to improve rail transport over the next three years.
Other achievement areas, according to Ramaphosa, include housing; water and sanitation; healthcare; education, and access to electricity.
"(Nonetheless), much more still needs to be done," he said.
Ramaphosa highlighted the need to manage public debt, revealing that for every rand collected by the government as revenue, 18 cents go toward debt settlement.
