The State of the South African Nation is a rather bleak picture far from a vibrant and colourful portrait you might see in a contemporary art museum. When President Cyril Ramaphosa delivers his State of the Nation Address (SONA) this week (form Cape Town City Hall, because, well, Parliament went up in flames) he’ll surely have a litany of issues on his mind and desk back at the Union Buildings piling up with issues rising to the ceiling.
There is speculation that the focal point of Ramaphosa’s Thursday evening speech will be the basic income grant, an ongoing policy debate that has seen a back and forth of contestation and multiple commentators adding their opinions.
But implementing the basic income grant will be a massive undertaking for a government that has promised so much year after year from SONA speeches, only to leave us all asking the question, “what happened to that?”
Business Day editor Lukanyo Mnyanda argues that perhaps Ramaphosa should shelve the big ideas for now and focus his attention on solving the little things that government has failed to deliver on (for subscribers).
Like fixing the country’s decaying infrastructure, perhaps getting another driver’s licence printing machine and decreasing the turnaround time for getting a passport. How about making a trip to home affairs less of an all-day waiting in the queue affair? Oh, and what happened to the National Health Insurance big idea?
Surely, we must be tired of listening to SONA after SONA after SONA where grand promises are made but they just never seem to come to fruition and even if they do, it’s not exactly the best service government could be providing.
Here’s a roundup of interesting opinions, analyses, and editorials:
BUSI MAVUSO: Ramaphosa should crank up action over energy supply – Business Day (for subscribers)
Ramaphosa’s Sona must deal with corruption, says Paul Hoffman – The Citizen (for subscribers)
JUSTICE MALALA | Malema, Mpofu’s deplorable behaviour poisoned JSC hearings – Sunday Times Daily (for subscribers)
SONGEZO ZIBI | History will judge us if we don’t challenge the JSC’s appalling views – Sunday Times Daily (for subscribers)
Zondo forces us to put the ANC, and not just Zuma, on trial – Sunday Times (for subscribers)
Adriaan Basson | Dali Mpofu – a legal nincompoop and scoundrel – News24 (for subscribers)
The real reasons behind South Africa’s R11bn loan from the World Bank – Daily Maverick
Image: GCIS
