The 2025 state of the nation address (Sona) set out an ambitious reform agenda: lift growth above 3%, stabilise the energy system, drive R940bn in infrastructure investment over three years, accelerate logistics reform under Operation Vulindlela, roll out digital identity systems, expand employment programmes and stabilise municipal utilities.
A year later, energy reliability has improved and South Africa has exited the FATF grey list. Growth, however, remains between 1% and 1.4%. Unemployment is above 31%.
Against that backdrop, parties that are not part of the government of national unity (GNU) argue that credibility, not ambition, is the central test of Sona 2026.
Business Day spoke to opposition parties outside the GNU to assess what concrete commitments they expect for Sona.
The EFF rejected any discussion of a “shift” without a formal accounting of past commitments. It argued Sona has repeatedly functioned as a reset mechanism, introducing new priorities without resolving old ones. Before further reform language is introduced, the party wants a measurable progress report on unemployment, infrastructure revitalisation and industrial policy, including evidence that Operation Vulindlela has altered growth patterns or ownership structures.
A year later, energy reliability has improved and South Africa has exited the FATF grey list. Growth, however, remains between 1% and 1.4%. Unemployment is above 31%.
Its economic prescription is explicitly state-led. The EFF called for reviving steel and automotive manufacturing, rebuilding textile capacity and legislating compulsory localisation. It argued deindustrialisation, not fiscal consolidation, lies at the core of persistent unemployment.
From outside the GNU, it identified its own legislative proposals as transformative: nationalising the Reserve Bank to align monetary policy with employment objectives, tightening parliamentary oversight of foreign borrowing, mandating local procurement and compelling insourcing of state services.
For the EFF, economic sovereignty and industrial protection are preconditions for structural change. It sees limited prospects for meaningful delivery under the current framework and argued accountability must be immediate.
ActionSA expressed deeper scepticism. It characterised President Cyril Ramaphosa’s tenure as one of recurring promises and limited execution, warning Sona risks becoming another restatement of reform without delivery capacity. It cited regulatory red tape, illicit trade and bureaucratic expansion as constraints on growth, arguing austerity without eliminating waste has undermined infrastructure investment.
For ActionSA, credibility requires visible cabinet accountability and measurable reductions in state inefficiency.
Build One SA (Bosa) called for executive urgency rather than incrementalism. It expected decisive administrative action: removing underperforming ministers, decentralising policing, publishing the national register of sexual offenders, reducing the size of cabinet and digitising procurement. Institutional credibility, it argued, is inseparable from economic recovery.
On growth, Bosa proposed a strategy targeting 4% to 5% expansion, anchored in manufacturing stimulus, digital infrastructure investment and regulatory reform. The single most consequential intervention, in its view, would be restoring the rule of law.
Without visible enforcement and consequence management, private investment will remain constrained, according to Bosa. Success should be measured quickly and concretely: reductions in crime, job creation, improved education outcomes, and a leaner state.
The ACDP framed its expectations within the GNU’s reform trajectory. It called for accelerated private sector participation in energy and logistics, building on Operation Vulindlela. The party noted corporates are holding more than R1.8-trillion in cash reserves, reflecting policy uncertainty and weak confidence. Unlocking that capital, it argued, requires faster grid connections for private renewables, longer-term rail and port concessions, operational independence of the transmission system operator, and broader ease of doing-business reform.
For the ACDP, rising gross fixed capital formation is the core benchmark. Success after Sona should be measured by increased private investment, stable power and logistics systems, and improved business confidence. It also warned foreign policy instability risks undermining trade and investor certainty.
The African Transformation Movement advanced the broadest critique. It argued that modest GDP gains have not translated into relief for the estimated 23.2-million South Africans living below the poverty line. It pointed to unemployment near 32%, youth unemployment above 60%, electricity tariff increases of 8.76% and 8.83% over the next two years, and persistently high inequality.
For ATM, priorities include affordable energy, permanent job creation rather than temporary stimulus, strengthened law enforcement, and urgent infrastructure rehabilitation. It highlighted water insecurity, illicit trade estimated at roughly 10% of GDP, and immigration policy failures as structural drags on growth. Success, it argued, must be measured by visible reductions in poverty, crime and inequality, not improvements in headline indicators.
United African Transformation called for enforceable, time-bound commitments rather than aspirational framing. It wants Sona to include defined milestones, funding allocations and named accountability mechanisms. It supports a state-led developmental model centred on infrastructure expansion, localisation, land reform and developmental finance.
The most transformative step, it argued, would be implementation of a coherent industrialisation strategy backed by infrastructure-led growth and decisive land reform. It proposed quarterly and annual reporting to parliament as the accountability mechanism.
The official opposition, the uMkhonto weSizwe Party, was contacted but declined to comment.
Across ideological divides, however, a pattern is evident. Parties are not demanding new slogans. They are demanding measurable outcomes: sustained growth above 3%, structural reductions in unemployment, reliable electricity and water supply, credible enforcement of the rule of law, and visible consequence management for corruption.
The record since Sona 2025 reinforces their caution. Energy reliability has improved and FATF grey list removal marked a concrete institutional gain. Rail and infrastructure reforms have advanced procedurally. Yet growth remains subdued and labour absorption weak.
In the first quarter of 2025 alone, 245,000 formal jobs were lost. Youth unemployment remains above 45% across broad age bands. Municipal service delivery remains uneven.
The demand before Sona 2026 is therefore not rhetorical repositioning but measurable implementation. For parties outside the GNU, the president’s credibility will be judged not by new commitments, but by whether existing ones have materially altered South Africa’s economic trajectory, and whether progress can be demonstrated within defined timeframes.
Business Day
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.