Given time and reflection on President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) speech last week it’s easy to get caught up in all the pageantry of the affair and the pretty words used to paint a picture of a South Africa hurtling into a brighter future.
But when you sit with the text and take a look at what was said then it’s far easier to come to the realisation that there isn’t much concrete policy substance there and the essence of what a SONA should be has been all but lost.
When the head of state delivers a speech titled The State of the Nation then it should surely be a sober reflection as to where the country finds itself in the current socio-political time. It should also be a report back to the country’s citizens on the government’s progress over the past 12 months in achieving its policy plans and political promises.
But none of that sentiment makes its way into Ramaphosa’s speech and if you take a look at some of the president’s previous SONA speeches, you’ll start to see a pattern developing: loads of promises with no real plan of action.
Fast forward 12 months to the next SONA and the promises and ideas spouted out at the previous address are all but forgotten never mind asking whether they came to fruition.
“Much of what he says, of course, is cloaked in unrealistic promises, which suggests that last-minute, back-of-a-matchbox ideas can quite easily find their way into the speech,” writes Sam Mkokeli.
And that is no way for a president and government to run a country, through half-baked plans that they have no real intention of seeing come together.
Perhaps it’s time for some real policy discussion and reflection on what the government managed to achieve over the past year before you step up to the podium Mr President for the current formula: “walk to the podium, speak for almost two hours, and resoundingly fail to address the biggest issue facing our economy: Eskom’s finances,” is doing no one a service.
Here’s a roundup of interesting opinions, analyses, and editorials:
If there’s a battle for SA’s soul, why the dawdling, Mr President? – Editorial, Business Day
Did you notice Ramaphosa blackmailed you on Thursday? – Eusebius McKaiser, Sunday Times Daily (for subscribers)
The ANC’s final play before a 2024 defeat – Adriaan Basson, News24 (for subscribers)
If Ramaphosa wants a ‘new consensus’, it has to start with his Cabinet – Mpumelelo Mkhabela, News24 (for subscribers)
Super blacks: definition — those who are more equal than you – Justice Malala, Sunday Times Daily (for subscribers)
Who is responsible for South Africa’s decadelong disaster? – Tim Cohen, Daily Maverick
SA in an immigrant labour mess because our laws are a joke – Editorial, The Citizen (for subscribers)
Image: GCIS
