BRITS POS – BRITS – Prof Theo Venter, a political analyst at the University of Johannesburg expects President Cyril Ramaphosa to be back in Parliament to deliver the second State of the Nation Address (SONA) after the election.
The one positive aspect of the speech, he said, is that the ANC clarified it is going for green energy and a just energy initiative focusing on Mpumalanga, which is ironically a model that was very actively pushed by former Eskom CEO, André de Ruyter.
John Steenhuizen, leader of the DA says none of the promises made by President Cyril Ramaphosa in his last five SONA speeches have ever been kept, and not a single piece of pragmatic, workable legislation has been tabled at the National Assembly to realise Ramaphosa’s ‘New Dawn’.
The South African economy has all but flatlined, there are no new jobs, corruption is worse than it has ever been, crime is spiralling out of control, and millions of our children are starving to death.
30 years of ANC national government has caused our economy to stagnate and led to significant fiscal restraint – an environment in which the ANC is now pursuing desperate and populist measures such as tapping into the gold and foreign exchange contingency reserve account of the Reserve Bank, essentially killing any economic buffer for our country against unforeseen external market shocks. This as a looming tax hike under the ANC will be the final nail in the coffin for millions of South African households struggling to put food on the table.
What South Africa needs is a complete reprioritisation of its national budget that cuts the fat from cabinet perks and a bloated public wage bill, and redirects money towards paying better social grants that meet the food poverty line, fixes our electricity crisis by embracing privatisation, invests in education, and embraces policies that liberate our economy to fast track growth and job creation.
Dr Pieter Groenewald, leader of the Freedom Front Plus - President Cyril Ramaphosa unequivocally demonstrated with his State of the Nation Address (SONA) that both he and the ANC government have totally lost touch with the reality of the problems faced by ordinary South Africans every day.
He apparently does not know what ordinary South Africans know.
One example is load-shedding. Last year, the President promised that by the end of 2023 load-shedding will be a thing of the past. Maybe someone should tell him that this is 2024 already.
He painted a wonderful picture of job creation and prosperity. The reality, however, is that nearly 40% of all South Africans and more than 60% of the country’s youth is unemployed.
President Ramaphosa exploited the opportunity created by SONA 2024 in a desperate attempt to deliver an election speech. It, too, was a failure. He had nothing to boast about, except empty promises that never materialised and a country that does not exist in reality.
This tactic could easily backfire for government. South African voters are not stupid and they have bought into the ANC’s lies for long enough. They are desperate, starving and unemployed. They are plagued by load-shedding every day and have to dodge potholes while witnessing hundreds of desperate people standing next to the road hoping to get a job, even if it is just for the day. Their reality is totally different from the one that the President described and lauded in his SONA address. There is no freedom in living like this.
In a year where general elections are held, there are two SONAs. One before and one after the elections. All right-minded South Africans ought to ensure that President Ramaphosa does not get to deliver the SONA after the elections.
The Public Servants Association (PSA) is shocked. Instead of offering concrete strategies to address urgent issues such as unemployment, rising interest rates, deteriorating infrastructure, and challenges posed by the current National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill, the SONA appeared to be more of an electioneering campaign.
The PSA acknowledges government’s plan to end load-shedding, but deems it a failure, considering the substantial economic losses incurred owing to continued power outages, which also have a detrimental impact on employment and the cost of living. (And shortly after SONA, load-shedding rose to a detrimental Phase 6 high).
