MUCH RIDES ON RAMAPHOSA’S SPEECH TONIGHT
THE STATE of the Nation Address (Sona), scheduled to take place today, will be President Cyril Ramaphosa’s real maiden address. The one of 2018 had already been prepared by then president Jacob Zuma before the ANC forced him to resign.
Ramaphosa is under immense pressure to satisfy different audiences. First, the fact that this year’s Sona takes place against the backdrop of Ramaphosa’s investment drive and “New Dawn” means a lot will be expected from him.
The international community will be watching with keen interest to gauge the government’s policy positions after the May elections.
First on the agenda will be land transformation which is directly linked to the investment drive. The time for political rhetoric is over. The world wants to hear concrete pronouncements on how the government will implement Section 25 of the Constitution in its amended format. As Ramaphosa tries to satisfy South Africans, he will have to allay international fears and give the assurance that any potential investment will not be negatively affected by the land reform policy.
The second issue is corruption. The Sona will be delivered at a time when there are parallel Commissions of Inquiry into State Capture, the fitness of certain NPA prosecutors to hold office and related matters.
The international community has to respect South Africa’s political sovereignty and cannot dictate to it, but it is an open secret that the world has a vested interest in what is happening in South Africa.
The fact that the US, UK, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland made their feelings clear gave a glimpse of how the global community is watching developments in terms of the country’s political will in eradicating corruption. This is important because no investor would invest in a corruption-ridden country, real or perceived.
On the diplomatic front, the international community will be waiting to hear if the president will give them assurances that diplomatic relations will continue and not be negatively affected by media statements and emotional public utterances. This expectation has been necessitated by the recent marathon meeting between Dirco and representatives of those countries.
But the Sona is not just about talking to international audiences. South Africans have their own expectations. Therefore, the president will be expected to address national issues and expectations.
In this regard, the mayhem at tertiary institutions will have to find expression in the president’s speech. This issue has been made even more pressing because of the chaos at institutions of higher learning, especially in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal. Those who politicise this issue would argue that Zuma gave students free higher education and Ramaphosa’s government is reversing that. Only rational people will understand the dynamics of implementing this policy.
Those who think with their hearts and not their heads will argue that all students must study for free and that all previous student debt must be cancelled. As to how this would affect the sustainability of those institutions is something they would not be interested in.
Another issue will be how the government will grow the economy and create jobs. This is critical because in the ANC’s manifesto the party promised to create 275 000 jobs – a revised figure from the 500 000 promised in 2014 – but some felt that it was still unrealistic.
When Ramaphosa addressed the Mining Indaba this week, he was optimistic about this sector’s future, saying the sun was rising. Implicit in this statement was that the mining sector would create jobs.
He will now have to tell the nation. In a nutshell, President Ramaphosa is under immense pressure to instil hope.