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Cape Town - South Africans had daunting challenges of poverty and unemployment to overcome, President Jacob Zuma said in his State of the Nation address on Thursday.
Zuma listed the achievements of South Africa's successive democratic governments since Nelson Mandela took power in 1994, starting with burying an oppressive minority regime. They had made "South Africa a better place to live in now than it ever was before".
But he said the country still faced inequality, poverty, and unemployment and the government's efforts were focused on eradicating these problems.
It was crucial that business, labour and government joined forces to create faster economic growth and jobs, he said.
In the face of pressure on the rand, which Zuma warned would make government's infrastructure programme more expensive, the country needed to grow the economy "at a rate of above 5% to be able to create the jobs we need".
