Voice of Commonwealth

Sona 2021: Ramaphosa offers a hope that his own party seeks to destroy

Share

When it comes to giving people hope and then leaving them in the dust nothing trumps like a speech by President Cyril Ramaphosa. The Speeches are filled with plans, hope and promises but the crowds who listen know that there will be none of this and that it is pointless. This has been the situation is his past five State of the Nation Address (SONA).

President Ramaphosa was the first to light candles in remembrance of those who lost their lives due to the pandemic, he read from an iPad to almost empty parliament. While carrying the imprint of his face mask on his face the president then delivered a speech on the new reality and focused on rebirth and the dawn of a new day for the country. This is in itself was classic of the President as it was similar to the speech he delivered in 2018 and also had touch of what was delivered in 2020 where he spoke of new beginnings and equality for a better and healthier society. The pitch of the speech focused on four specific areas defeating the coronavirus pandemic; accelerating economic recovery; driving economic reform to ensure “sustainable jobs and inclusive growth”; and fighting corruption while strengthening the state, and three out of the four were also made in last yeas speech.

President Ramaphosa needed progress as this was important to his Economic Recon structure and Recovery Plan that was announced last year. He said this has four focuses: a substantial infrastructure rollout, a huge increase in local production; an employment stimulus to create jobs; and the rapid expansion of energy-generation capacity. Unfortunately all this comes after a terrible year as many companies have folded in the face of the pandemic and infrastructure has come to a complete stop and unemployment has gone up to a record of 30.8%. The president although focused on the pandemic in his speech it seems like an unattainable goal that has been set.

It is the handling of the state owned entities (SOEs) that makes a case point in the president’s address although he seemed to be profiting from this, president Ramaphosa has looked into the fifth renewable energy window which he has also promised to push ahead in his last SONA but was delayed because of the amount of criticism and oversight by the energy minister Gwede Mantashe. There will be load shedding this week and the president has admitted that there will be a loss of 4000 to 6000 megawatts of electricity supply over the next five year. The president then went on to promise that 2600MW of solar energy will be issued this would add to the planned 11 800MW of energy from renewable sources, as well as batteries, natural gas and coal. Every year it is the same story and this year shows no difference.

Following this pandemic the president and his financial team has managed to find 10 billion for another bail out for the SAA and a few months later they have come to realize that billions will be required to get the Covid 19 vaccine. This news does not come at a good time as Eksom is hardly functioning and polluted air is killing hundreds of people each year with the emitting of toxic gases, the South African Post office is barely able to give the people their social grants as there is no investment in public infrastructure. The worst hit would be the healthcare system which has been battling the pandemic with little or no support.

President Ramaphosa’s initial and fast response to the virus was appreciated globally. The pandemic of course devastated the countries monies and the people of SA did not trust the information from the government any longer in regards to the pandemic. Although the president does speak about taking control of the corruption it was the pandemic that brought to light the shamelessness of the corrupt when the special investigation unit laid bare and involved 13 Billion Rand in doubtful contracts, all this proved to be a true test for the president.

President Ramaphosa stated that “Testimony at the commission has shown how the criminal justice system was compromised and weakened, Ending gender-based violence is imperative if we lay claim to being a society rooted in equality and non-sexism.” Like so much in the president’s speech, this work highlighted the time that it takes to rebuild a state that has been stripped of skilled workers and hope. But that time requires that President Ramaphosa continue in his role in the governing party.

Read more

More News