We want action plans with timelines attached, Cyril

The danger for President Cyril Ramaphosa as he delivers tonight’s State of the Nation Address (Sona) is that many cynical South Africans might regard him in the same way as the boy in the fairy tale who “cried wolf” so often that no one believed him.

Sona has degenerated over the years into a festival of hot air and fashion as the country’s MPs compete with each other to see who can be the most tasteless and gaudy in their choice of clothes; and the head of state serves up yet more platitudes.

This year will be different, in the sense that the Covid-19 pandemic has meant there won’t be any glitzy parliamentary opening ceremonies and our political representatives will attend online, in keeping with social distancing protocols.

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That may augur well for the presidential speech, too.

Ramaphosa cannot, to use the current cliches, revert to the “old normal” – either in the way he physically makes his address, or in what he says.

He must give the country firm leadership and guidance.

We want to know where we are heading with the campaign to combat the coronavirus, how quickly the vaccines will be rolled out and how quickly we might reach herd, or community, immunity.

We want to hear what he is going to do about the thieves within his own organisation who have capitalised on the crisis to loot money on a grand scale… money intended to ease the crisis and to save lives.

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We want to hear assurances that the looters will be locked up.

We also want to hear plans about easing up on the lockdown and how the ruinous damage to our economy is going to be repaired.

But, most of all, we want action plans with timelines attached.

The time for talking and making empty promises has long since passed.

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