WATCH LIVE: Ramaphosa delivers 2022’s State of the Nation Address

President Cyril Ramaphosa is on Thursday delivering the State of the Nation Address (Sona), and is expected to touch upon the pressing issues of security concerns, rampant corruption, rising unemployment and a sluggish economy.

Thursday’s address will be held at the Cape Town City Hall. The venue had to be moved after a fire gutted Parliamentary buildings in January.

Speaking to The Citizen, political analyst Professor Andre Duvenhage said South Africans shouldn’t expect anything new in this year’s Sona.

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He said South Africans have lost hope in a state headed by a president who was battling party infighting. Duvenhage fears that the ANC factional rifts could turn violent for the country’s citizens, especially as the governing party heads to an elective conference in December.

“I am expecting a lot of rhetoric. I think Ramaphosa is not thinking about South Africans, but is concentrating on the ANC battle lines. There will be the same rhetoric on unemployment and poverty alleviation.”

“I fear that Ramaphosa is going to be the central hotspot of conflict and violence. The combination of the negative economy, poverty and the lack of social cohesion could be catastrophic,” said Duvenhage.

Political parties have also decried the rampant corruption, poor governance and Ramaphosa’s “lack of the resolve to take tough political decisions”.

The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) said it expected Ramaphosa’s Sona to be “a carbon copy of the usual grandiose, verbose, statement of intent that we are subjected to year-in, year-out”.

“It is our hope that the President does not make the mistake of delivering a ‘State of the ANC’ – rather than a ‘State of the Nation’ – address, given that it’s an election year for him,” the party said.

Additional reporting by Getrude Makhafola.

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