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South Africa has made a lot of progress since 1994, with many citizens agreeing that the country is a much better place.

South Africans from different walks of life shared their views on how the country has fared when it comes to nation building.

South Africa is a diverse country with many cultures but also a deeply divided past.

When the democratic government came into power in 1994, one of its biggest challenges was to unite the country and create a shared sense of identity. To help achieve this government introduced a range of national symbols, each symbolic of the country’s diverse cultures.

Former President Mandela once described apartheid South Africa as the “skunk of the world” that was diplomatically, economically and culturally isolated from the rest.

“Education, skills development and job creation are the most powerful weapons that the youth will need to enable them to run the country's modern economy efficiently.”

This is the view of President Jacob Zuma, who recently spoke about the importance of the country’s youth during the recent inaugural Presidential Indaba on Youth Jobs and Skills.

Before 1994, apartheid, colonialism, cultural and religious practices in South Africa promoted the oppression of women.

From a virtually bankrupt state to a thriving trillion rand budget, South Africa’s economy is undoubtedly a world away from what it was 20 years ago.

A declining employment rate, low investment levels, a poorly educated workforce and large monopolies - these were the features that characterised the South African economy in the period leading to 1994.

Gone are the days when Tisetso Masilela, of Soweto, would have to put up with traffic on her way to work. Like many commuters f rom townships neighbouring big cities like Johannesburg, Pretoria and Durban, Masilela would arrive at work late as a result of the traffic congestion leading into the city centre.

The Medupi power station will be world’s fourth largest coal power station and will be the largest dry-cooled power station in the world.

Government is spending big on infrastructure with the aim of improving the lives of South Africans and boosting the economy.

The National Infrastructure Plan, rolled out in 2012, is geared at changing the economic landscape of the country and creating jobs. The plan is an effort by government to build new infrastructure and upgrade existing infrastructure across the country.

In 2013, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan announced government would invest R827 billion over three years in building new and upgrading existing infrastructure.

Significant advances have been made over the last 20 years to establish a single local government system from the fragmented, undemocratic, unaccountable and racially divided apartheid system.

“It is impressive that a number of municipalities which had little or no preexisting institutional foundations, have been able to deliver basic services to thousands of people who did not have them before in the past two decades,” President Jacob Zuma said during the release of the Twenty Year Review recently.