By Lungani Zungu
The stage is set for President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address (Sona), which is set to tackle the issues of grinding poverty, rampant corruption and the energy crisis.
Speaker of the National Assembly Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said security would be tight inside and outside Cape Town’s City Hall on and ahead of Sona on Thursday.
This is the second year that Sona is held outside Parliament due to the fire that gutted the historical building in January 2022.
“We will be firm in dealing with possible disruptions. Our job is to ensure that the Sona is a success,” said Amos Masondo, the Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces.
Some parties, including the EFF and the African Transformation Movement, have threatened to disrupt the speech.
The National Freedom Party has called for Ramaphosa to resign instead of addressing the nation, accusing him of failing to lift South Africans out of poverty.
Mapisa-Nqakula said they expected 263 guests, including former president Thabo Mbeki, former speaker Baleka Mbete, Chief Justice Raymond Zondo and Deputy Justice Mandisa Maya.
The sitting will be the first entirely in-person one since 2020 before Covid-19 forced the sitting to be held partly virtually.
After taking office in 2018 following the demise of former president Jacob Zuma, Ramaphosa vowed to end the endemic corruption, ensure the ailing Eskom kept the lights on, and create the much-needed jobs.
Six years later, the country is battling with stage 6 load shedding and unemployment is soaring to a record-high of 35.3% in the fourth quarter of 2021.
This dropped to 32.9% in 2022, but millions — including graduates — remain unemployed.
As usual, DA leader John Steenhuisen held what he termed the “True state of the nation”, on Tuesday ahead of the official Sona.
During his address, Steenhuisen urged South Africans to vote the ANC out of power in the upcoming national general elections.
Pictured above: President Cyril Ramaphosa
Image source: @MYANC
