Ramaphosa is ashamed of his record in government, says DA chief whip

DA chief whip Siviwe Gwarube says President Cyril Ramaphosa was too ashamed of his own record in government, hence his state of the nation address (Sona) focused on the achievements of the past 30 years.

Ramaphosa’s speech was the last Sona under the sixth administration, and it reflected the achievements of the past 30 years with an account of the work of the sixth administration in the last five years.

But opposition parties have suggested that Ramaphosa merely claimed credit for the successes of his predecessors and not much about his own legacy.

“What is clear from the president’s reluctance to recount key tangible deliverables of the past term in office, is that these are few and far between,” said Gwarube.

“He decided to do some fancy footwork on Thursday by focusing on the past 30 years of democracy and not the past five years of his presidency.

“He too is ashamed of his record in government. He knows that South Africans are worse off today than they were in 2019, at the beginning of this administration. He knows that his government’s time is up,” she said.

Gwarube said people were finally seeing through Ramaphosa’s sloganeering, which does not translate to real change for the people who need it most.

She also took issue with the numbers Ramaphosa presented in his speech, saying these “fooled no-one”. She accused the president of attempting to sanitise the lived reality of South Africans, saying this fell flat on Thursday night.

She described the speech as revisionist and a dishonest fairy-tale which was an insult to those who know the truth.

“They know the truth because they live it; they know what was told to them was a lie concocted by a bunch of speech writers — and not the daily nightmare that was touted as the New Dawn.”

Sharing what she said were “the real stories of real South Africans”, Gwarube said the reality of young people in this country was too bleak for words.

It was a reality of abject poverty, joblessness, crime, broken promises and corruption, with no hope of change under the Ramaphosa presidency.

Gwarube said while South Africa was not a poor country, it was led poorly and let down by an uncaring government.

She cited stats that showed:

• Severe malnutrition in children under the age of five years old has risen by 26% in the past five years.
• Over 12,000 children under five have died in hospitals since 2013 due to starvation.
• The census revealed at least 2 million households in the country were experiencing hunger and forced to skip meals daily.

“This is the reality of your track record in government, sir. These are not just numbers, these are people whose lives are being destroyed by your government,” she said.

Gwarube said the government further insulted poor people by gaslighting them when they try to hold it to account. “Their loyalty is demanded and are routinely reminded about how grateful they ought to be to the ANC.”