Ramaphosa is the ‘incapable head of an incapable state’ – Steenhuisen

DA interim leader John Steenhuisen took a swipe at President Cyril Ramaphosa, claiming that he was the “incapable head of an incapable state” ahead of the state of the nation address (Sona) set for Thursday 13 February at 7pm.

Facing the media on Wednesday, Steenhuisen delivered the “real” state of the nation address to speak about the challenges that South Africans face on a daily basis.

“Tomorrow in parliament you will hear from President Ramaphosa his account of the state of the nation. And it will be a master class in spin,” Steenhuisen began.

“It will be an hour of downplaying the bad and inventing the good. Of cherry-picking stats to show we’ve somehow turned a corner, and of whimsical dreams of a South Africa he knows in his heart he has no hope of achieving.”

He continued: “Red carpets and designer gowns will not reflect the real state of our nation.”

"Red carpets and designer gowns will not reflect the real state of our nation." 🙅‍♂️ – @jsteenhuisen | #RealSONA 🇿🇦 pic.twitter.com/hLplBQuzTk

— Democratic Alliance (@Our_DA) February 12, 2020

During his “real state of the nation” tour, Steenhuisen met government health care employees and business owners to discuss how best to develop the communities in which they lived.

“Over the past two weeks, I have travelled to every province and spoken to hundreds of people in dozens of communities to get their views on where we stand as a nation. Metros, to townships and to villages. I have met with residents, business owners and farmers.”

"Over the past 2 weeks I have travelled to every province & spoken to hundreds of people in dozens of communities to get their views on where we stand as a nation.

Metros, to townships and to villages. I have met with residents, business owners and farmers."#RealSONA 🇿🇦 pic.twitter.com/busJZWLVUN

— Democratic Alliance (@Our_DA) February 12, 2020

Steenhuisen said that every person he spoke to in these communities were victims of a government that failed to deliver services including load shedding, unemployment, and daily crime.

“All the people I spoke to were resilient and resourceful. They were hustling to get by in the face of indescribable obstacles. They were surviving despite this government.”

Steenhuisen described the ANC government as “an incapable state” for failing to maintain these communities.

“What I saw these past two weeks across the breadth of South Africa is the real state of our nation, and the true legacy of this ANC government: The Incapable State.

“This is the legacy of the ANC in government! Every single local government I visited has been paralyzed by bad policy and worse appointments, to the point where it can no longer deliver the very basics.

“The man who is meant to lead the ANC out of this nightmare – the darling of the media and last hope of the once-proud ANC – is himself stuck in his own quicksand of warring factions and crippling indecisiveness. The incapable head of an incapable state.”

Steenhuisen maintained the party’s stance that politicians who didn’t deliver must be removed from their positions, as the community continued to pay for services it did not receive.

He also denounced the hiring of those who knew nothing about service delivery.

“The ANC would rather fall back to the default setting of cadre employment.

“Imagine a government that stood with the people. Perhaps, instead of ‘thuma mina‘ our president should have chosen as his motto: ‘ndihamba nawe‘.

Imagine a government that stood with the people.

Perhaps, instead of “thuma mina” our president should have chosen as his motto: “ndihamba nawe” – @jsteenhuisen | #RealSONA 🇿🇦 pic.twitter.com/d8D1K3dcZJ

— Democratic Alliance (@Our_DA) February 12, 2020

Steenhuisen said the country did not need one monolithic state-run energy company and that its problems required pragmatic solutions.

“Let us sell off Eskom’s coal-fired stations to settle its debts, but let them still manage the grid. Let us open up the market to full competition. Let households, companies, mines and municipalities generate and sell power.”

He commented on the education sector saying that the state must ensure that teachers were properly trained, monitored, and incentivised so that quality education was provided, particularly in disadvantaged communities.

Steenhuisen mentioned he state did not need to “destroy private healthcare in order to strengthen public healthcare”.

He said South Africans needed to hit the reset button and organise themselves around common values and a common vision for the sake of the country.

“Let us now do whatever it takes to find each other.”

(Complied by Molefe Seeletsa)

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