Umm Muhammed Umar

Many South Africans had been of the sentiment that there was no point to the State of the Nation address by the President. The feeling seems to run high that there are so many empty promises made year in, year out. A long, detailed list is presented, while no one holds the government accountable to all the things that have been mentioned. Radio Islam spoke to Molefe Tshabalala ahead of the SONA, on Friday afternoon.

Tshabalala agreed that not much would change, saying, “When I look at the challenges that we’re finishing today, they are the same as the challenges that we faced in 2008, when the former President Thabo Mbeki delivered his last penultimate State of the Nation Address.” He said that Mbeki had identified four challenges: load shedding, a poor economy; attacks on the judiciary, and the state’s (in)ability to maintain law and order. Tshabalala pointed out that the fact that President Cyril Ramaphosa was not delivering the SONA address in parliament, already spoke volumes about the state of security in the country.

Tshabalala said that it was the collective responsibility of South Africans to hold the government accountable regarding all it promises to deliver. He said, “not only as the public, the political parties, the debate, the speeches, and even civil society organization, the media, all of us, it’s our collective responsibility to actually hold government to account.” He added that what was even more important was that the President not come in and make promises. Tshabalala added, “He should take the stock of what he promised last SONA, and give the nation the progress made in terms of those promises.” He recalled that the President had once promised South Africans smart trains and smart cities, saying that South Africans did not need new promises, but instead needed progress: “It shall not be the question of just speeches, debate, and do on. We need progress.”

As to the President having found himself in a reportedly unique position, Tshabalala said, “I don’t think his situation is unique……..the President  is constrained with internal puppet dynamics and politics.” He explained that at the last ANC National Conference there were ‘policy positions’ that had been taken. He said, “Unfortunately, he (Ramaphosa) hasn’t implemented some of those policies, over reasons that we all know, that they are, sort of tug of war, within the party.” And this necessity of a mandate from the ANC, was what, according to Tshabalala, made things difficult to implement, for President Cyril Ramaphosa.