If ever the time for talking was over, that time is now.
When President Cyril Ramaphosa gives his state of the nation address on Thursday evening, he will be speaking to a country characterised by frustration and impatience.
Like any political leader, Ramaphosa uses this annual platform to tell South Africans what government has achieved over the past year — a checklist of successes that precedes a sombre list of our challenges going forward and what is being done to address them. We know the drill, even more so in an election year.
But this year, there is a lot more at stake. SA is standing on a political precipice, with the ruling party, for the first time, in serious danger of slipping below the 50% mark at the upcoming polls. People are fed up with broken promises and the lack of service delivery.
Ramaphosa will need to pull a very big rabbit out of his hat if he is to, even slightly, stem the tsunami of restlessness among South Africans.
So dwelling on self-congratulatory back-patting may only antagonise an electorate that sees dysfunction all around them on a daily basis — from the “little” things like non-functioning street and traffic lights, potholes, litter, overgrown parks and curbs, to the major issues like growing organised crime, entrenched corruption, unshakeable load-shedding, congested ports, broken railways, a road system driven into the ground and a stagnant economy crippling business and making it harder for people to find jobs and put food on the table.
We hope there are some big-hitting announcements during his Sona speech, specifically on job creation and economic growth, infrastructure and policing.
South Africa’s patience has run out. The time for political platitudes has long gone. What voters need now, more than ever, is decisive action. It is a Rubicon moment for Ramaphosa, and for the ANC.
That is not to say there have not been successes under Ramaphosa’s leadership. He took office when South Africa was at a low point. And there is no doubt our country is a better place now than when he was appointed in 2018. He has spearheaded several credible plans to deal with the complex and substantial issues we face as a country. There have been improvements under his leadership, including around load-shedding, which has lessened but nevertheless remains stubbornly persistent.
However, his term has been characterised by lacklustre leadership, lots of talk but little noticeable action and a general lethargy that almost suggests disinterest. He has been unwilling, or unable, to bring about meaningful change.
Government’s recovery and growth plans have been slow, famously swaddled in red tape and without measurable impact. The fact that Ramaphosa has had a challenging term in office — having to navigate the state capture mop-up, a debilitating Covid-19 lockdown, former president Jacob Zuma’s arrest and the subsequent deadly looting in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng — is unlikely to cut the ANC any slack when voters go to the polls.
And that is because, while load-shedding has eased, it is still with us on a weekly basis. While our matric pass-rate was higher than ever, most matriculants will struggle to find jobs, and while our sporting heroes have done us proud, their trophies will not feed a hungry child.
So we hope there are some big-hitting announcements during his Sona speech, specifically on job creation and economic growth, infrastructure and policing. And there need to be immediate, impactful and implementable solutions to boost and supplement the long-term projects already in the pipeline. But most of all they need to be measurable, with time frames, so we can hold our leaders to account.
In his Sona address last year, Ramaphosa said: “The people of South Africa want action, they want solutions and they want government to work for them. They simply want to know when a problem like load-shedding will be brought to an end. We are, therefore, focused on those actions that will make a meaningful difference now, that will enable real progress within the next year and that will lay a foundation for a sustained recovery into the future ... We are concentrating on those issues that concern South Africans the most: load-shedding, unemployment, poverty and the rising cost of living, and crime and corruption.”
If these words are used as a yardstick to measure the performance over the past year, it is clear government has not lived up to its promises.
In last year’s speech Ramaphosa also spoke poetically of South Africans’ hope and resilience: “We are a nation defined not by the oceans and rivers that form the boundaries of our land. We are not defined by the minerals under our earth or the spectacular landscape above it. We are not even defined by the languages we speak or the songs we sing or the work we do. We are, at our most essential, a nation defined by hope and resilience. It was hope that sustained our struggle for freedom, and it is hope that swells our sails as we steer our country out of turbulent waters to calmer seas. Even in these trying times, it is hope that sustains us and fuels our determination to overcome even the greatest of difficulties.”
But those turbulent waters have not eased, and our boat is sinking. Hope and resilience are fading fast. For many, they are gone altogether, just a distant dream.
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