Changing young people’s lives is what we are about, Cyril Ramaphosa returned to the National Assembly on Friday morning to give oral replies to a range of questions from the MPs in a Q&A session in parliament, via the virtual platform.

This was Ramaphosa’s debut within the National Assembly after the unrest and Cabinet reshuffle last month, he last appeared before the House on the 6th of May.

The president touched and engaged the national assembly on issues of unemployment, the appointment of new ministers, the Marikana Massacre, as well as vaccines and the protection of individuals who do not want to get vaccinated against Covid-19, among other topics.

He faced vexed questions from opposition parties, with regards to the appointment of ministers and also the restructured national executive, after the cabinet reshuffle last month.

During the Q&A session, ANC MP Kenny Morolong, directed a matter to the president on the measures that the government has implemented to grow the economy, create jobs, and also convey relief to businesses, workers, and families in distress since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic within the Republic in 2020, and given the persistence of the pandemic and the recent unrest in parts of the country.

Morolong asked how the government was mobilizing funds for economic recovery, in the light of dampened confidence of the investor and business community.

He also questioned what elements of the economic reconstruction plan were put in place to transform the structure of the economy that still has colonial and apartheid features.

In response to Kenny Morolong, Cyril Ramaphosa said that giving the youth hope, giving them skills, giving them jobs, and giving them a future, is what the government is committed to doing.  He assured everyone that he will continue to do that regardless and that the government will continue and is determined to do so, in an even bigger and dramatic way, going forward.”

He went on to add that the expanded unemployment is a massive problem and the government has come up with the Presidential Youth Employment Scheme that has started to work very well. Ramaphosa mentioned the scheme is changing lives, although the burden of unemployment, remain huge.