Response to State of the Nation Address June 2019

President Cyril Ramaphosa presented his State of the Nation Address, also known as #SONA; on the 20 June 2019 over a month since the ANC won the country's sixth Democratic Elections. The stakes for Ramaphosa have been high, in terms of delivering a #SONA that would send strong signals to the nation, his cabinet team and international stakeholders. The message was meant to inspire and ignite a fire for a nation in a rut after a decade of rampant corruption and mismanagement under the Jacob Zuma led ANC, as well as after 25 years of ANC rule that has failed to live up to the promise of the first democratic elections "A better life for all".

Ramaphosa,who has been seen by some as the return to the optimism of the Mandela term, failed to live up to the expectation set out for him in delivering a lukewarm SONA, that did note see the Commander in Chief cut a line in the send to distinguish himself from previous ANC presidencies. Much of what the President noted in his speech is well known, and many of his promises are familiar to South Africans who have witnesses a lack of follow through in the past, and no consequences for public servants who fail in delivering on the SONA promises.

The President pronounced a number of laudable intended actions in his speech, especially on issues of the economy, on crime, on poverty and unemployment. However there was a lot the President did not say, especially in highlighting the key impediments that have stopped many of the lofty promises he made, which have been announced by previous regimes. Many of the obstacles have been within his own party, and with his supporters in labour and business.

South Africans may be beyond the proverbial 'once bitten twice shy' at this point, and the President will have to earn confidence through tangible results over the next year should he desire a more positive response in his next SONA in 2020.

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