EFF’s shenanigans and president’s plans

IT CAME as no surprise when the Economic Freedom Fighters delivered on their promise to bring Parliament to a standstill should their demands not be met.

However, what came as a surprise though was the fact that there were no precautionary measures in place to help aid the situation.

Having said that, credit must be given to Speaker Thandi Modise on how she handled the disruptions, maintaining order in the house cannot be an easy job. It cannot be that one opposition party is given an opportunity and time, to hold a joint sitting and entire country at ransom.

The State of the Nation address is when the president reports on the status of the nation and also marks the opening of Parliament.

It is important that the president is given the respect to do so with no interruptions. Members of Parliament have the opportunity to express their views in a sitting after the address.

But back to the business of the day, the president’s long-anticipated speech was one full of hope – considering that a lot of negative issues have overshadowed South Africa in recent past, from the high unemployment rate, load shedding, school violence, and violence against women and children.

It is encouraging to hear that there are plans in the pipeline and that the president took to heart the issues South Africa is facing.

We wanted to hear how the government intends to deal with these factors – he delivered on that and now we wait for the implementation and, most importantly, the effectiveness of these measures when put in place.