Opposition parties say they're not impressed with the state of the nation

Opposition parties not satisfied with President Cyril Ramaphosa's state of the nation address (Sona) said it did not outline concrete plans to address the country's challenges and did not account for promises made in previous Sonas.

EFF president Julius Malema accused Ramaphosa of not accounting for what he had said before this Sona.

“In the previous address it was 'Tintswalo' and before it was 'Thuma Mina'. There is no accountability. He uses this platform to waffle.”

Malema said Ramaphosa spoke about creating jobs but did not say how and where they would be created. Malema said it was the same with infrastructure: plans with no detail.

“It is just utterances, knowing very well he will not be challenged by those he is governing with.”

Malema said in previous Sonas, Ramaphosa had spoken about allocating R1bn to KwaZulu-Natal to fix houses damaged by flooding. “Those houses have not been built.”

Malema said money had been committed before, but the country had not seen the legacy of the billions he had committed in the past.

Build One South Africa leader Mmusi Maimane said Ramaphosa missed an opportunity to bring about deliberate action.

“If you want to build a capable state, you cannot afford corruption at senior level. The collapse of local government is a function of corruption. We needed to see deliberate action of what are going to do about corruption.

“Tonight's speech felt a lot like last year’s, except what I wanted to hear more of timelines and deliberate action promised, so that when we come back next year, the president will tell us what he has done and not done,” Maimane said.

MK Party spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela said what Ramaphosa presented could not be referred to as a plan to address the country's problems. “It is a reflection of a failed state, of the nothingness address,” Ndhlela said.

He said the GDP per capita showed that South Africans were getting poorer. “It is a disaster, he talks about local municipalities, all he is doing is privatising water and electricity.”

On infrastructure investment plans announced by Ramaphosa, Ndhlela said 42% of the population was jobless. “Give me one infrastructure project that can demonstrate jobs. None.”

ATM leader Vuyo Zungula said Sona needed to talk about the lived realities of the people.

“If you go to any township or village, many people are suffering, there is poverty to an extent where you have people who have started taking their own lives as they cannot cope under this government.”

Zungula said unemployment and crime were high and load-shedding was back.

“As ATM we are not overly excited by the speech of the president. He has been making speeches since 2018 but has nothing is to show for it. If he made a promise in 2018, we should see results.”

Zungula said he wanted to see more accountability from Ramaphosa on what he has delivered in previous Sonas.

ACDP leader Kenneth Meshoe said when Ramaphosa touched on corruption, there was an uproar from some MPs about the theft of money at his farm in Phala Phala.

“It is important for the president to know that he cannot be favoured by the police, by NPA or by anybody else because the president has failed to tell the nation how the $4m came to his farm,” he said.

ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba said he did not know how the government was going to address mining so it benefited the people of South Africa when it had opened borders and allowed international criminal syndicates into the country's mines.

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