GNU must help SA realise promises packaged in Sona

President Cyril Ramaphosa could get used to leading under the government of national unity (GNU).

During his State of the Nation Address (Sona) in Cape Town on Thursday evening, he got far less heckles than in years gone by, although when he mentioned corruption there were several “Phala Phala” chants with reference to the burglary that took place on his farm in 2020.

The National Prosecuting Authority has since declined to prosecute the president for any wrongdoing for strangely having thousands of dollars in his sofa, but the shadow will forever hang above his head until he reveals all – something he won’t do.

There were no parties forcing disruptions. No charging of the stage. No lengthy objections.

The president had the floor as he outlined his plans in his first Sona under the GNU. Was it because his coalition partners had bought into the ideas, or had a big hand in helping outline the goals? Perhaps.

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Was it because the EFF – the main protagonists in the past – were regrouping after the exit of many of their members to Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe? Maybe.

But maybe, MPs finally got that as he said: “let’s work together”. For just under 90 minutes, Ramaphosa was allowed to tell his “fellow South Africans” how government and business were going to turn our economy around.

There were good parts of his speech, there were the obvious “with what money?” questions when it came to some plans and there were “that’s never going to happen” remarks to others.

Ramaphosa aims for 3% growth, targeting infrastructure investment. He spoke about health, Transnet and how they planned to deal with the water crisis in detail, while at least acknowledging that we are not out of the woods when it comes to consistent power supply.

He spoke of job creation, improving service delivery at municipal level and digitalisation of the visa system.

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Sorting out our broken education was weak on detail. As EFF leader Julius Malema said: “There is no plan or accountability. He uses this platform to waffle. He says he will create jobs, but he does not say where or how?”

Malema is right, the proof is in the pudding. We need action. But perhaps Ramaphosa’s strongest statement of the evening was his response to the United States.

He said: “This is the world that we, as a developing economy, must now navigate. But we are not daunted. We will not be deterred. We are a resilient people. We will not be bullied. We will stand together as a united nation. We will speak with one voice in defence of our national interest, our sovereignty and our constitutional democracy.”

He added: “We stand for our shared humanity, not for the survival of the fittest.”

In the week leading to his speech, our relationship with the United States has been frosty, with US President Donald Trump threatening to withdraw all funding pending “a confiscation of land” investigation.

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The foundation of his remarks is based on misinformation, but there’s no denying there’s friction between the two countries.

Ramaphosa did well to stand up to the superpower, but he needs to be careful to not make enemies of the US. We need to find common ground.

Ramaphosa’s wish is that “We will work together to build the nation that we want. We will work together to build a nation that works for all”, is a good one.

Many past speeches have been just that – empty promises. We live in hope that a unified government can put these words into action this time around.