SONA 2023: ‘Municipalities have become a feeding ground for corruption’, Fedusa

The Federation of Unions of South Africa (Fedusa) has stressed that President Cyril Ramaphosa can no longer disregard the current state of municipalities and that he needs to share a detailed planned of how order will be restored in South Africa.

Fedusa shared its expectations of the president’s State of the Nation Address (Sona) which will take place on Thursday evening, citing key points they believed to be problematic.

Municipalities

According to the federation, municipalities have become a feeding ground for corruption, officials are not qualified to carry out their duties and essentially undermine the functions of municipalities as prescribed in the constitution.

Fedusa also says that the public has been reassured countless times over the years about measures including the district development model that were aimed making municipalities effective again, yet these have failed to improve the situation in municipalities.

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Eskom and load shedding

Another issue the federation voiced is the matter of on-going black-outs.

Fedusa said Ramaphosa must make pronouncements on the procurement and regulatory challenges holding up Eskom’s ability to fix existing power stations and to bring new capacity online.

“We also expect an announcement on the suggested declaration of a state of disaster to ease procurement requirements and other regulatory matters that may be hampering the entity’s management from carrying out its duties efficiently.”

“As a result of the load shedding crisis, companies in various sectors including motor and hospitality have indicated they will have to cut jobs with unions across the board seized with Section 189 retrenchment processes.”

‘Millions of jobs’

According to Fedusa, Ramaphosa came into office and made promises of creating millions of jobs which still has not happened.

“However, this undertaking immediately fails when millions of employed South Africans who would otherwise have job security, out on the streets due to unreliable energy supply. The country is on edge with 43% of the labour force unemployed.”

Gender based violence

Fedusa said it has also noted the government’s continued avoidance to implement the resolutions made in the first and second gender summit.

“A gender council as agreed to is yet to be established. Shelters meant to help abused women, children and others remain in unliveable condition.

“Fedusa wants the president to take charge of the processes meant to implement and domesticate the International Labour Organisation’s Convention 190 and Recommendation 206 that seek to address violence and harassment in the world of work.”

Social grants

Pertaining to the matter of grants, Fedusa said it hoped Ramaphosa would make an announcement on the extension of the Social Relief Distress (SRD) grant which has been of assistance to many South Africans living in poverty.

“The R350 must be increased, and the requirements must be expansive enough to be accessible to poor people. Poverty is a crisis in South Africa. Ramaphosa promised to end poverty within a generation, this will not happen if nearly half the labour force cannot access the job market and are only extended the paltry R350 to survive.”

Horrifying crime stats

Fedusa warned that South Africa could soon become a mass murder capital like Colombia.

“This is a terrifying prospect. We need the president to address the public’s concerns over violent crime and what intervention he and his Cabinet will implement to address this. The spate of killings and the high crime levels have a devastating impact on many aspects of the South African society including the economy and personal freedom.

“The problems confronting the country are many and those mentioned above are just a few in the pile. We hope that Ramaphosa will rise to the occasion and use his Sona address to give angry, demoralised, and anxious South Africans some relief.”

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Compiled by: Siphumelele Khumalo.