Save the state of the nation

The universally welcomed decision to postpone Thursday’s state of the nation address while the ANC wrestles with President Jacob Zuma to step down is the surest sign yet that the turnaround is imminent. That such a dramatic step was necessary to facilitate the leadership transition in the ANC is an indication of how difficult that transition is and the seriousness and resolve that now exists in the ANC to remove Zuma and install Cyril Ramaphosa in his place.

While the postponement was really only necessitated by the messy and dysfunctional process of decision making in the ANC, the prospect of a Zuma-free administration was so enticing that it is not surprising that no opposition party could object to helping the ANC fix what was really an internal problem, with a major disruption to the political and government calendar.

There is also the fact that everyone can now be spared the indignity of being addressed by a discredited president, whose speech would have been farcical given the knowledge that he will not be in office very much longer.

The state of the nation address can and must now be restored to the purpose for which it was intended.

It is the occasion where indeed the head of state should speak to the nation and outline the government’s vision for the year and account for the past one. It also is the occasion where, with the help of all the pomp and ceremony that is brought to bear, South Africans should celebrate their democracy and their unity and diversity.

Most important of all, what requires restoration is the dignity and honour of the office of the president. SA wants and deserves a president it can respect and trust, whether he or she comes from the party for which they voted or not. Where a president upholds his or her oath of office and is loyal to the Constitution, each citizen should in turn be able to respect their office.

Over the past eight years we have slid so far from that simple ideal.

But in resetting the country back on track, it is time to be honest about the extent to which the ideals contained in our Constitution have been realised. SA is a democracy to be proud of. It is an open society, where everyone is equal before the law and a society where, as the Constitution entreats, the government is based on the will of the people.

It is not, though, a society in which the “divisions of the past have been healed” or where “the quality of life of all citizens” has been improved and “the potential of each person” realised, ideals also expressed in the preamble to the Constitution.

Parliament is a vital institution in realising these aspirations. National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete, in recognition of this and in recognition of the constitutional imperative to take stock of how far we are, two years ago commissioned a panel, led by former president Kgalema Motlanthe, to assess the legislative achievements of Parliament in particular.

The key finding of the panel, published last November but without much public reaction, was that despite extensive legislative reform the ills of the colonial and apartheid past were still being reproduced in democratic SA.

There were big achievements, noted the panel. The mortality rate of children under the age of five improved — as did access to education, which is now universal.

But despite the Constitution guaranteeing a range of socioeconomic and related rights and redistributive fiscal policies, poverty, unemployment and inequality remained “deeply etched” in SA, it said.

Next week, as Parliament prepares to begin a new year, we hope that with a new head of government there is a chance to reset not just the dignity and decorum of the institution but also to refocus its intentions.

The panel’s recommendations on how to accelerate change will be a good place to start.

THE STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS MUST BE RESTORED TO THE PURPOSE FOR WHICH IT WAS INTENDED