What’s the real state of the nation?

President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered his State of the Nation Address (SONA) on 8 February (see story on page 17). What should have been an opportunity to critically examine the true state of the nation, instead became an electioneering campaign for the ruling ANC. Ramaphosa made little mention of the poverty, joblessness and power cuts that continue to not only disrupt the lives of ordinary South Africans, but continue to cost the country billions of rand.

In his address, Ramaphosa lauded the work done by the ANC over the past 30 years. There is no denying that upon becoming the ruling party in 1994 that the ANC was faced with the immense task of providing services for and including the majority, which had been denied these, and opportunities, in the economy. It was never going to be an easy task, and it certainly was not going to be something that could be accomplished in a few short years. But it has not been a few short years, and we are now three decades into the ANC’s reign. And while the ANC MPs love to point out the difficulty they were faced with 30 years ago in transforming the country, there is also no denying that the ANC has failed. One need only think of former president Jacob Zuma, the ‘nine wasted years’ and state capture to realise that we could have been much better off had cadre deployment, corruption and state capture not infiltrated government. Indeed, in the first 10 years after the ANC’s ascension to government, the country’s GDP was rapidly growing, and the ANC did not have trouble pointing this out during the SONA and SONA Parliamentary debates. However, what the party did not focus on was the past almost two decades of ANC rule, which saw the introduction of load-shedding, and the spectacular collapse of state-owned enterprises, including Eskom, Transnet, Denel, the Post Office and South African Airways.

During his address, Ramaphosa told the story of the fictional Tintswalo, who he described as a ‘child of democracy’, who lived in a state-provided home, received free schooling and who had the opportunity to attend a tertiary education institution thanks to a bursary. And while this story may ring true for some in South Africa, it is also not true for millions more. The country remains the most unequal society in the world. We have the world’s highest murder rate. The country is also known for its sexual violence, hijacking and armed robberies. South Africans, whether in cities, suburbs or farms, live in daily fear for their lives and the lives of their loved ones. In 2023, we experienced the worst load-shedding on record. Unemployment is at a historic high, particularly amongst the youth. Our infrastructure is falling apart, and hopelessness is at an all-time high.

Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of this year’s SONA is that Ramaphosa could have spent his almost two hours in Parliament detailing how the ruling party plans to change the country for the better: how it plans to tackle load-shedding and unemployment, and how it plans to create an environment that will stimulate job creation.

Instead, we heard about a South Africa that doesn’t exist for the vast majority of the country, and herein lies the problem: if we don’t face reality, we cannot change the direction of the country.