State of nation is a disaster
President Cyril Ramaphosa loves to speak to the nation. Astonishingly, for a man who has yet to complete his first term in office, this is Ramaphosa’s seventh State of the Nation Address (Sona). This is on top of his almost monthly “Address to the Nation” during the Covid pandemic lockdown.
Also, let’s not forget the ANC’s annual ritual of the 8th January birthday statement. This is Sona-lite for the comrades, with the same boasts of past achievements and assertions of glories to come, but – like the now excommunicated comrade Carl Niehaus – dressed up in pseudo-revolutionary camouflage.
If one considers that all this mouth-flapping comes from a man who, during the same period, held only one press conference, a pattern can be seen. Our president is far better at talking than doing.
So, if after listening to Thursday night’s Sona, delayed for 45 minutes by Economic Freedom Fighters in red onesies behaving like petulant children at story time, it felt as if you’d somehow heard it all before, that’s good. You’ve been paying attention.
Last year, the theme was hardship, the innate resilience of South Africans and a determination “to leave no one behind”. This year, the theme was “trying times” with “many people suffering … worried … uncertain and … without hope”. But “together we will overcome” and “leave no one behind”.
In Sona 2022, the president punted the success of his infrastructure fund, which then had commitments of R776 billion towards its R1.2 trillion target. That Sona reported another R367 billion in commitments and upped the target to R2 trillion by 2028.
What was encouraging, was that Ramaphosa reported R232 billion of work already under construction and a further R600 billion already allocated.
And while it is similarly encouraging that it has, at last, dawned on the ANC that Eskom is the priority problem, the president’s “solutions” may make things worse.
First, is the declaration of yet another national state of disaster (SOD), which will be overseen by his most outspoken foe, Minister of Cooperative Governance and Local Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. Presumably, NDZ will bite the dust in the Cabinet reshuffle that is imminent. There are, however, many in the ANC leadership who want Ramaphosa to keep her in the post.
The most striking outcomes of the last SOD, implemented under the tender care of the very same Dlamini-Zuma, were extraordinary levels of corruption and looting, as well as farcical restrictions on individual liberties.
SOD-2 will be challenged in the courts by the DA and an array of civil society organisations.
Second, Ramaphosa announced the creation of a minister of electricity in the presidency, “to assume full responsibility for overseeing all aspects of the electricity crisis response”. That “full responsibility” will, however, be tempered by having to liaise with the minister of public enterprises, currently Pravin Gordhan.
And he or she will have to deal with the minister of mineral resources and energy (the obstructive and intractable Gwede Mantashe) and the Treasury. And, of course, the minister of cooperative governance, who’ll be running SOD-2 and, on previous experience, will have more de facto power than the president.
“This State of the Nation Address,” Ramaphosa told us, “is about seeing hope where there is despair.” But, in reality, hope is now flickering like a candle in high winds during load shedding.
While the much-anticipated Cabinet reshuffle may yet prove me wrong by revealing a more vigorous Ramaphosa, I doubt it. In the meanwhile, over the past year, the South African situation has deteriorated markedly further.
As successive Sonas demonstrate, this is a country practised both at igniting and crushing hope.