SONA 2025: In numbers

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President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered his State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Thursday evening at City Hall in Cape Town.

He provide a country roadmap charting the way forward for South Africa in what one could call a mixed bag of domestic and global circumstances.

Here’s what he said – by the numbers …

MOURNING

14 – South African soldiers who died as part of a mission to bring peace to the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

HISTORY

70 – years since the adoption of the Freedom Charter at the Congress of the People in Kliptown.
30 – years since the dawn of democracy.

ECONOMY AND INFRASTRUCTURE

5 – number of years for the implementation of the Medium-Term Development Plan.
3 – government’s strategic priorities to be advanced by the Medium-Term Development Plan.
Over 3% – the level of economic growth that government aims to lift to create the virtuous cycle of investment, growth and jobs.
R100 billion – value of infrastructure financing expected from local and international financial institutions and investors.
More than R940 billion – money that government will spend on infrastructure over the next three years.
3 – number of years during which government will spend more than R940 billion on infrastructure.
R375 billion – money to be spent by state-owned companies on infrastructure.
12 – blended finance projects worth nearly R38 billion that have been approved through the Infrastructure Fund last year.
Nearly R38 billion – value of 12 blended finance projects that have been approved through the Infrastructure Fund last year.

WATER

490 million – cubic metres of water a year that the Polihlali Dam will feed from the Lesotho Highlands into the Vaal River System.�
R23 billion – money secured by the Infrastructure Fund for seven large water infrastructure projects.
7 – large water infrastructure projects for which the Infrastructure Fund has secured R23 billion.

ENERGY

More than 300 – days without load-shedding since March 2024.
Over 13 billion – United States dollars that have been pledged by the international community to the Just Energy Transition.

VISA

Over 90% – the backlog of more than 300 000 visa applications that government has cleared.
More than 300 000 – visa applications of over 90% of the backlog that government has cleared.

BUSINESS FUNDING AND JOB CREATION

R20 billion – value of a transformation fund a year over the next five years that government will set up to fund black-owned and small business enterprises.
Over 10 000 – persons with disabilities to be empowered by the National Skills Fund Disabilities Programme through tailored training programmes, stipends and specialised tools.
Almost 2.2 million – work and livelihood opportunities created by the Presidential Employment Stimulus through innovative models that provide high-quality work to participants.
Over 80 000 – jobs created by the Social Employment Fund in 2025.
More than 12 000 – participants supported by the Social Employment Fund to enter entrepreneurial activities.

TOURISM

YOUTH EMPOWERMENT AND EMPLOYMENT

235 000 – work opportunities secured by young people during the past year through the National Pathway Management Network, which is underpinned by the SAYouth.mobi platform.
Some 4.5 million – young people registered on the SAYouth.mobi platform.
Around 60% – value of the national budget that government spends on the social wage: on health, education, social protection, community development and public employment programmes.

SOCIAL ASSISTANCE AND EDUCATION

More than 28 million – unemployed and vulnerable people who receive social grants.
More than 10.5 million – learners who go to public schools where they do not have to pay fees.
Over 900 000 – students from poor and working-class backgrounds who received funding to study at universities and colleges in 2024.
10 – key priorities of the National Strategy to Accelerate Action for Children.�
87% – learners who passed their matric exams.
Approximately 10 000 – students in the first year to be supported through Phase 1 of the Comprehensive Student Funding Model for Higher Education to address the needs of the “missing middle”.

HEALTH

3 – existing old central hospitals to be replaced.
3 – new central hospitals to be constructed.
5 – new district hospitals to be constructed.
5 – community health centres to be constructed.
1 – a new psychiatric hospital to be constructed.
96% – people living with HIV who knew their status, by the end of March 2024.
79% – people on antiretroviral treatment among the 96% of people living with HIV who knew their status, by the end of March 2024.
94% – people on antiretroviral treatment, among the 96% of people living with HIV who knew their status by the end of March 2024, who were virally suppressed.
1.1 million – additional HIV-positive people not on antiretroviral treatment that government will look for to ensure that South Africa reaches its target of 95-95-95.
90 – days during which the United States Government has decided to suspend some of its funding for HIV and TB programmes in African countries.
About 17% – the value of funding from the United States Government to South Africa’s HIV spend.

HOUSING

300 000 – serviced stands to be provided to qualifying beneficiaries to enable housing development in well-planned, connected communities along key development corridors.

RAIL TRANSPORT

More than 80% – passenger rail corridors that have been returned to service.
Over 200 – locally-produced trains that the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa has introduced on its network to provide a low-cost option for public transport.
Over the next five years – period during which government will restore the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa’s signalling system.

CRIME AND CORRUPTION

4 000 – personnel to expand the Detective Service through internal recruitment processes.
Over R95 billion – value of leakage in impermissible refunds that the South African Revenue Service prevented by using artificial intelligence in its fraud risk detection and verification work.
R20 billion – amount recovered by the South African Revenue Service.
Over R10 billion – money recovered by the Special Investigating Unit and Asset Forfeiture Unit in state capture related cases.
16 out of 22 – action items that government has fully addressed in the law-enforcement system to secure the removal of South Africa from the international Financial Action Task Force grey list.

GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE

65 – Thuthuzela Care Centres across the country.
52 – districts in the country.
44 – districts, out of 55 districts in the country, which have gender-based violence shelters.
16 – additional sexual offences courts to be established in the next financial year.

VISION