Security should feature prominently in Ramaphosa’s Sona
PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa’s 2022 State of the Nation Address will be one of the toughest he has delivered.
Issues such as the ever-increasing petrol prices, unemployment rate, inequality, poverty and many other challenges that the country is faced with all deserve mention in the Sona.
But they have all been on the agenda for the longest time. In each new financial year or during past Sonas, South Africans have listened to promises on how the issues would be addressed.
Sadly, for various reasons, the situation has deteriorated. As such, this is not news anymore.
My focus in this article is on the country’s security. While my piece has been triggered by the manner in which we have started 2022, concerns were there in July last year, when the country was in flames.
The looting that accompanied the chaotic situation, especially in Kwazulu-natal and Gauteng, raised security concerns.
I was among those who questioned the capability of our security cluster, which includes the State Security Agency (SSA), SAPS and the SANDF.
We were vindicated when the political heads in the three units exchanged words in public instead of focusing on the issue which posed a national security threat.
The only tangible response by the president was to place the SSA under his office, thereby removing its minister, Ayanda Dlodlo. Second, he replaced Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-nqakula with the then National Assembly Speaker Thandi Modise.
Minister Bheki Cele retained his position in the SAPS.
Although questions were raised following the developments, the dust eventually settled. The country looked forward to a safe South Africa – with the understanding that we had learnt some lessons from the July incident, which was triggered by the questionable incarceration of former president Jacob Zuma following the judgment Justice Sisi Khampepe delivered.
The year 2022 started off on the wrong footing. The setting ablaze of the Parliament building in Cape Town just after the New Year celebrations raised eyebrows.
Queen Victoria approved the establishment of this building in what was known as the Cape Colony in 1853. The construction of the building happened between 1875 and 1884. Since then, the building had remained intact. South Africa became a Republic in 1961. The apartheid regime lasted from 1948 to 1994.
Throughout the episodes, Parliament was never burnt down. Therefore, what happened last month was unprecedented. To make matters worse, while the country’s focus was on what was happening in Parliament, the news about a 36-year-old man smashing the Constitutional Court windows surfaced. This, too, was unparalleled. The fact that the two incidents happened one after the other led to the conclusion that there might be some connection. This is yet to be established in court.
Recently, a fire broke out at the Waterkloof Air base. The authorities did the right thing by immediately allaying fears of a possible “third force”. They insisted it was a normal fire, which they were able to contain. But the context outlined above was enough to cause panic in the country.
Second, like Parliament and the Constitutional Court, the Air Base is a national key point.
Given the developments, it is of paramount importance that the president talks about security in his Sona. This is important for two reasons.
The first one is that he needs to explain to the nation, in vivid terms, how the government has read the developments. Second, he needs to assure the nation that his administration is in control of the situation.
But acknowledging the security concern is not enough. It is necessary for the president to provide concrete steps that his administration has taken (or plans to take) to ensure that the root causes of the issues are established. Anything short of this would be a missed opportunity.
The proposal above is predicated on various issues of concern.
The list of the so-called “suspects” in some of these activities raises more questions. People like Ngizwe Mchunu have taken centre stage regarding the July 2021 upheaval. Zandile Mafe is the only suspect in the burning of Parliament. Surely, it would be unbecoming of me to question the country’s law enforcement agencies? However, the reality is that there is more to this than meets the eye.
In a nutshell, Ramaphosa needs to be honest to the nation when he addresses the country’s security issues. For issues that are before the courts, he has to assure the nation that these will be resolved.
Where the Constitution empowers him to take action, he needs to state categorically how he will act. This would be good for his legacy as it would for the country’s security.