President Cyril Ramaphosa delivering the 2025 State of the Nation Address (SONA) at Cape Town City Hall on Thursday night in Cape Town. Picture: GCIS
President Cyril Ramaphosa seemingly delivered a riposte to US President Donald Trump during his State of the Nation Address on Thursday night. If South Africans were wondering if it would placate the Trump administration, they got their answer.
Ramaphosa’s 10th State of the Nation Address (Sona) was a measured response to Trump and his secretary of state, Marco Rubio’s unprecedented attacks.
Trump has been vocally critical of the Expropriation Act, threatening to cut funding to the country.
Without providing any evidence, Trump claimed that “South Africa is confiscating land and treating certain classes of people very badly,” referring to the new law signed by Ramaphosa and aimed at addressing racial disparities in land ownership.
On Thursday, Rubio echoed his leader’s sentiments, saying he will boycott the upcoming G20 Summit in Johannesburg in November because South Africa “is doing very bad things.”
Ramaphosa said the Sona was taking place as the country celebrated 70 years since the adoption of the Freedom Charter at the Congress of the People in Kliptown.
“The Freedom Charter is the cornerstone of our democratic Constitution. It sets out a vision of a united, non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and prosperous South Africa. It sets out a vision of a country in which government is founded on the will of the people.”
ALSO READ: US secretary Marco Rubio will not attend G20 summit because SA ‘is doing very bad things’
While Ramaphosa did not mention Trump directly during the Sona, he addressed rising global tensions in his speech.
“We must chart this path in a world that is rapidly changing. It is a world of both interdependence and competition, of cooperation and conflict. It is a multipolar world in which new countries are emerging to play a greater role in global affairs. We are seeing intensifying competition over trade, technology and influence in global institutions.
“In the face of these challenges, we are witnessing the rise of nationalism and protectionism, the pursuit of narrow interests and the decline of common cause. 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 and we will speak with one voice in defence of our national interests, our sovereignty and our constitutional democracy,” Ramaphosa said.
Ramaphosa said the government spent much of the week defending the country’s reputation and legal processes after Trump announced on Truth Social that he would cut all US funding to South Africa.
“As South Africans, we stand for peace and justice, for equality and solidarity. We stand for non-racialism and democracy, for tolerance and compassion. We stand for equal rights for women, for persons with disability, and for members of the LGBTQI+ community.
“We stand for our shared humanity, not for the survival of the fittest. So, this evening, let us speak of the nation we want,” Ramaphosa said.
Ramaphosa expressed South Africa can traverse challenges, emphasising that the country overcame apartheid, “a crime against humanity that denied people their human rights, that deprived them of their land and livelihoods, that sought to strip them of their dignity.”
The president said the country’s biggest and most urgent challenge is rapidly increasing its annual GDP growth rate, which remains anaemic and inadequate.
Ramaphosa outlined South Africa’s plans and priorities for the next five years under the Government of National Unity (GNU), highlighting it as a collaborative effort among political parties to prioritise the country’s progress.
Over the next five years, the government plans to spend more than R940 billion on infrastructure, including R375 billion on state-owned companies.
ALSO READ: Sona 2025: Ramaphosa outlines GNU’s five year plan
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