Will Sona 2024 be another of Cyril’s new yawns?

Today, President Cyril Ramaphosa delivers his State of the Nation Address [Sona]. It is a special Sona marking 30 years of democracy and an election year. As is customary, Ramaphosa will look backwards at what has been achieved — this time over 30 years — and forwards to his intentions for the coming year. Is it too much to ask that he will use it as a reality check rather than what civil activist Wayne Duvenhage refers to as “empty back-patting and electioneering prattle” and “self adulation, with minimal acknowledgement of the nation’s grim reality”?

Will he be honest about the profound failures of our state and the ANC’S role in that? Without introspection, there can be no change.

There has to be less glib talk about “we’ve made mistakes” and a proper acknowledgment that there was a deliberate and exceedingly destructive period in our recent history where the ANC government, of which he was a senior member, allowed evil forces to control the levers of state for their own nefarious and corrupt purposes.

He needs to set out implementable, funded plans to attract skills back to the police and National Prosecuting Authority so that those who were, and those who still are, involved in crippling the state through corruption are brought to book.

To date, not one perpetrator of any real standing has paid any price.

Would it be too much to expect that the opening of parliament is a quiet and sober affair which would be sensitive to those who are quite literally starving to death due to a lack of income, support or welfare nets?

Will those wanting to watch the Sona be spared the excess of the red-carpet fashion parade of overweight politicians sporting obscenely expensive labels before having to listen, once again, about belt-tightening and tax-hikes to meet the looming fat-cat budgetary shortfalls?

Will Ramaphosa reflect on his former Sonas, during which he made so many “new dawn” undertakings on behalf of government which were not met?

Never have so many received so little after being promised so much.

It is an opportunity to speak to concrete steps to facilitate economic growth by doing its job as government.

The state needs to end loadshedding, and tend our roads and other infrastructure — all of which will facilitate the growth of the private sector, which will provide jobs.

Would it not be better to brag about job creation rather than skyrocketing unemployment and being so absurdly proud that such an enormous proportion of our population now relies on government funded grants to survive?

We are tired of government’s hollow bragging about what it has done for us and its empty promises of a brighter dawn.

We have had 30 years during which to see through it. The state of our nation is dire and we demand better of our government.

Will he be honest about the profound failures of our state and the ANC’S role in that?