South Africa needs to focus on inclusive growth, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said on Monday.

The starting point for inclusivity was education, he said at the Nelson Mandela Foundation in Houghton, Johannesburg.

"Government has... done extremely well to widen access to the vast majority of South African children, but the quality of education is the next challenge we need to take on," Gordhan said.

"Focusing on technology and education and on upgrading teachers will give young South Africans a better future."

The second requirement for inclusivity was jobs.

"It is a well-established fact that if young people don't have their first job experience, we and they have a despairing future.

"We must ensure we take as many young people [as possible] off the streets," he said.

Gordhan was speaking at the release of a Goldman Sachs report titled "Two decades of freedom: What South Africa is doing with it, and what now needs to be done".

The report provided an analysis of how South Africa had changed in the past 20 years and its position in the world.

It identified ten areas in which the country had made structural advances, the ten largest remaining problems, and the ten key issues which had to be addressed.

Goldman Sachs South Africa head Colin Coleman presented the report at the foundation on Monday.

"As we approach 20 years of democracy in South Africa, we have an opportunity to take a step back and get a long-range factual perspective," he said.

Issues identified in the report referred to the public sector.

"[The public sector] needs to up its game," Coleman said.

There needed to be more productivity, especially in the health and education sectors, good management, and education that prepared people for employment.

According to the report, there needed to be a special focus on youth unemployment. Seventy percent of the unemployed were under the age of 34.

"We cannot have a generation left behind," Coleman said.

There was a need for a labour pact for sustainable growth and employment and balanced wage and productivity growth.

Coleman said the country needed a "team South Africa" response, everyone working together to tackle problems.

"We know what needs to be done. We need effective team work and execution excellence," he said.

"We have the people and the capital. We have the talent and the tools to execute well."

Gordhan said South Africans lacked the hope and optimism of former president Nelson Mandela's generation.

"There is too much despair.... We need to recognise the good work we've done," he said.

"It's important that South Africans know we are not a dismal country."

He said the country had achieved a lot in a short time, despite there still being problems.

The country had the ability to rise to greater heights, but there needed to be an emphasis on growth and the current generation needed to realise that change did not come easily.

"There is hard work to do. There are sacrifices [that need to be made] and innovative things we need to do," Gordhan said.

"Can we move from a 'me' generation to an 'us' generation?" he asked.