(VOVworld) - South African President Jacob Zuma delivered his State of the Nation Address to parliament in Cape Town on Thursday. This year’s address raised some new points, including the government’s plans to ban land ownership by foreigners.

Jacob Zuma, South Africa's president, center, stands with a hand over his heart before giving his annual state-of-the-nation speech in parliament in Cape Town, South Africa, on Feb. 12, 2015. (Photographer: Halden Krog/Bloomberg)

Zuma began his speech talking about South Africa’s significant achievements in socio-economics over the past year. He said the ambition of achieving a growth target of 5% by 2019 was at risk because the government is dealing with an energy deficit while the stalled global economy has resulted in falling demand for materials. The South African government has developed a 9-point plan to create jobs, resolve the energy challenge, boost power plant construction, improve management of the energy infrastructure, and develop alternative sources of energy. President Zuma said the Regulation of Land Holdings Bill will be submitted to parliament this year, under which a South African citizen will be allowed own a maximum of 12,000 hectares while foreigners will be banned from owning any land in South Africa.

Zuma noted that Africa remains the primary focus of South Africa’s foreign policy, adding that South Africa will strengthen cooperation with international organizations and other countries in Africa to ensure peace, security, and regional economic integration. South Africa will be actively involved in international forums and will support UN reform.