{"id":50076,"date":"2026-02-16T08:34:47","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T08:34:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/?p=50076"},"modified":"2026-02-16T08:34:47","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T08:34:47","slug":"top-economist-positive-about-cyril-ramaphosas-state-of-the-nation-address","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/2026\/02\/16\/top-economist-positive-about-cyril-ramaphosas-state-of-the-nation-address\/","title":{"rendered":"Top economist positive about Cyril Ramaphosa\u2019s State of the Nation Address \u2013 Newsday"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Award-winning economist Dawie Roodt said he was positive about President Cyril Ramaphosa\u2019s State of the Nation Address.<\/p>\n<p>Roodt described it as the best State of the Nation Address from Ramaphosa since he took office in 2018.<\/p>\n<p>Ramaphosa delivered his latest State of the Nation Address to a Joint Sitting of the two Houses of Parliament on Thursday, 12 February 2026.<\/p>\n<p>The State of the Nation Address is an annual overview delivered by the President to mobilise all sectors of society to secure ongoing development in the country.<\/p>\n<p>It provides the President with an opportunity to reflect on progress made, highlight key achievements, flag challenges, and outline the government\u2019s policy direction.<\/p>\n<p>It is also a platform to outline interventions for the coming financial year and to deliberate on South Africa\u2019s domestic priorities.<\/p>\n<p>The State of the Nation Address is an important national milestone that reinforces the strength and resilience of South Africa\u2019s constitutional democratic system.<\/p>\n<p>There was a strong focus on economic reforms and growth. \u201cOur economy is growing again, and this growth is gathering pace,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile we have experienced four consecutive quarters of GDP growth, we know that it has to grow much faster to meet our social and economic challenges,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>He added that South Africa has achieved two consecutive primary budget surpluses and that the rand has strengthened against the US dollar.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur credit rating has improved, interest rates are coming down, and inflation is at its lowest level in twenty years,\u201d Ramaphosa said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the largest stock exchange on the African continent, has performed exceptionally well over the past year.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This growth, he said, reflects broader economic recovery, investor confidence, and increasing interest in South African equities.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Economist Dawie Roodt shares his views<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Top-economist-positive-about-Cyril-Ramaphosas-State-of-the-Nation.jpg?resize=640%2C360&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-708\" srcset=\"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Top-economist-positive-about-Cyril-Ramaphosas-State-of-the-Nation.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/newsday.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Dawie-Roodt-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/newsday.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Dawie-Roodt-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/newsday.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Dawie-Roodt-600x338.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Efficient Group Chief Economist Dawie Roodt<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Efficient Group chief economist Dawie Roodt said this was the best State of the Nation Address from Ramaphosa that he has seen.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRightfully, there are a few things that we should be quite positive about. The emphasis is certainly on two things as far as I\u2019m concerned,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The first is economic growth, and the importance of getting the economy to grow.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The second is what should be done, what can be done, and what will be done, about crime and organized crime.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>He said Ramaphosa started by highlighting some good things that have been happening in South Africa in terms of the financial markets and economic growth.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe is broadly correct. For example, the economy has been growing for the last four quarters, albeit at very, very low levels,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere seems to be a bit of an acceleration in terms of economic growth. We\u2019re currently running a fiscal primary surplus, which is true.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Roodt added that South Africa\u2019s credit rating has been upgraded and that further upgrades are likely.<\/p>\n<p>There were other positives. The rand is stronger, the JSE is much stronger, load shedding has been reduced, and the ports and railroads are running much better.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo broadly speaking, the South African economy is doing much better than it did before,\u201d Roodt said.<\/p>\n<p>However, moving beyond the economic situation and financial markets, Roodt highlighted that the country faces many challenges.<\/p>\n<p>The biggest challenge is not highlighting what should be done, like fighting crime and corruption. Instead, it is execution.<\/p>\n<p>Here, Roodt is more skeptical. \u201cThe track record of Cyril Ramaphosa and the ANC is just horrible,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<div class=\"text-center border p-3 bg-light mt-4 rounded\">You have read 1 out of 5 free articles. Log in or register for unlimited access.<\/div>\n<p>                        <!-- Share Data Setup for JavaScript --><\/p><\/div>\n<p><script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n#Top #economist #positive #Cyril #Ramaphosas #State #Nation #Address #Newsday<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Award-winning economist Dawie Roodt said he was positive about President Cyril Ramaphosa\u2019s State of the Nation Address. Roodt described it&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":50077,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mzansi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50076"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50076\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50078,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50076\/revisions\/50078"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}