A night when even the EFF cheered the president’s speech

● Not a single minister was mentioned by name in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s first state of the nation address. It was a signal that cabinet changes were afoot and that Ramaphosa was ready to swing the axe and reduce the size of the cabinet.

The 2018 address was delivered after two weeks of high drama and uncertainty, and brought to a close nine tumultuous years of the Jacob Zuma administration.

In the past few years, as opposition protests over Zuma’s scandals intensified, the opening of parliament had been more about political theatre than the content of the state of the nation address.

This year there was little fanfare, minimal security, zero interruptions and wide appreciation of the seriousness of the event. The focus was where it should be — a celebration of the republic and the content of the speech.

In the 5 300-word speech, which Ramaphosa wrote largely on his own, the president’s first challenge was how to deal with Zuma’s messy exit. He swiftly lanced the boil, thanking Zuma for his service, then moved on.

“We should put behind us the era of diminishing trust in public institutions and weakened confidence in leaders. We should put all the negativity that has dogged our country behind us because a new dawn is upon us.”

In Nelson Mandela’s centenary year, channelling the founding father came naturally for his favoured son.

“We are a nation at one,” he said. “We are determined to build a society defined by decency and integrity that does not tolerate the plunder of public resources, nor the theft by corporate criminals of the hard-earned savings of ordinary people.”

A major difference in Ramaphosa’s approach was the suspension of the “royal we” and the assumption of personal responsibility for key interventions with the words “I will”.

The only criticism opposition leaders could latch onto was that the president deferred too much to summits and councils that he has committed to convening.

These included a jobs summit, an investment conference, a social-sector summit, a youth working group, a presidential economic advisory council, a digital industrial revolution commission and a team to speed up implementation of infrastructure projects.

One of the announcements that was enthusiastically welcomed was a review of “the configuration, number and size of national government departments”, which signalled a slash in the number of ministers and deputy ministers.

One person who is sure to receive his marching orders is Mosebenzi Zwane, and not just for being the Guptas’ midwife. Ramaphosa has committed to resolve the impasse over the Mining Charter, which Zwane, as minister of mineral resources, bogged down.

Bathabile Dlamini’s future as minister of social development also looks uncertain as her days of delaying and undermining the social grants system are numbered.

“I want to personally allay fears of any disruption to the efficient delivery of this critical service, and will take action to ensure no person in government is undermining implementation deadlines set by the court,” the president said.

Ramaphosa also put on notice the problem child of government — the state-owned enterprises. He said they could not “borrow their way out of their financial difficulties” and there would be a process to review their funding models.

“We will change the way that boards are appointed so that only people with expertise, experience and integrity serve in these vital positions.” Board members would, from now on, not play any role in procurement, said Ramaphosa.

The president received the loudest applause from his biggest critics, the EFF, when he said that land expropriation without compensation would be implemented — with the usual disclaimers.

Shaun Abrahams’s days as national director of public prosecutions are clearly numbered as Ramaphosa committed to “urgently attend to the leadership issues at the National Prosecuting Authority”.

The South African Revenue Service is about to undergo scrutiny with the appointment of a commission of inquiry into tax administration and governance. This means that the special protection that SARS commissioner Tom Moyane enjoyed under Zuma, even in the face of underperformance and serious corruption at the revenue service, is about to end.

Ramaphosa soothed a troubled nation, giving South Africa hope that there is now a responsive and accountable government in place.

It helped that he knew his speech and connected with his audience. The homage to the recently deceased Hugh Masekela was sublime — in the words of Thuma Mina and the sentiment behind it.

His hand on his heart with the words “Send me” was what his people wanted from the new president.