South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has said that an end to crippling power cuts was "within reach" and pledged thousands of new jobs in a key speech ahead of knife-edge elections this year.
With his historically dominant African National Congress (ANC) party struggling in the polls, Ramaphosa used a state of the nation address on Thursday to highlight steps taken to address the prolonged energy crisis that has vexed businesses and families alike.
"We are confident that the worst is behind us and the end of load shedding is finally within reach," he said using the local term for blackouts in a speech to lawmakers at Cape Town City Hall.
"But we are not stopping there," he added, touting new reforms and investments including more than 14,000 kilometres (8,700 miles) of new transmission lines to accommodate renewable energy to be rolled out in the coming years.
Create jobs
"With our abundance of solar, wind and mineral resources, we are going to create thousands of jobs in renewable energy, green hydrogen, green steel, electric vehicles and other green products," Ramaphosa said.
Ramaphosa, 71, is facing an uphill battle to rally support behind the ANC, which polls suggest risks losing parliamentary majority for the first time.
Polls suggest the ANC could win as little as 40% of the vote - something that would force it to seek a coalition government to stay in power.
Without naming him, Ramaphosa took a swipe at his predecessor Jacob Zuma, 81, who last month was suspended from the ruling party after backing the breakaway uMkhonto We Sizwe (MK) or Spear of the Nation, party, which threatens to take votes away from ANC.
Zuma's rule
Listing the challenges that South Africa has faced in recent decades, Ramaphosa said that "perhaps the greatest damage" to the nation was inflicted by the period of massive corruption that marked Zuma's rule.
"For a decade, individuals at the highest levels of the state conspired with private individuals to take over and repurpose state owned enterprises, law enforcement agencies and other public institutions," Ramaphosa said.
"Billions of rands that were meant to meet the needs of ordinary South Africans were stolen".
Election date
Ramaphosa is expected to announce the date of the elections for national and provincial MPs over the next two weeks.
Polls indicate that the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA), a liberal party, could win between 19% and 31%t of votes.
The party which has formed a coalition with several other groups, is currently battling for second place with the radical leftist Economic Freedom Fighters.
The vote is to be held between May and August.
