South Africa – The State of the Nation Address (SONA) is set to be held on 9 February which could be the president’s most important one yet given the crisis the country is in. Ahead of that, Defend our Democracy will be holding a rally aptly called ‘A Country in Crisis – The Real State of the Nation’ to highlight the needs that need to be met and how the government has failed its citizens.
The state of the country can be characterised as one that has seen citizens continuously pay for the mishaps of the government, said Nonkululeko Mntambo, Communications officer for Defend our Democracy. Citizens have been forced to carry this nation’s burdens and they cannot do it for much longer.
“Every drop that happens in the country, whether it’s broken railways or load shedding or general corruption or state capture, it all falls on the back of the people and we very literally pay for it as seen in the recent tariff hikes. So I would characterise it as us being the camel’s back and the government continuously adding straw upon straw upon straw.”
The rally
The rally will be taking place on 8 February at St. George’s Cathedral, Cape Town. Having the event on the eve of the SONA was done with great forethought. It is being held to give the recipients of the government’s decision a voice to air their concerns and how they feel about what has happened since SONA 2022, said Mntambo.
“The preempting of the Presidential State of the Nation Address was definitely in thinking of that. We have to, at some point, take stock of what has happened from the viewpoint of the ground, which are the people that are affected by the decisions that are made. So when the president does give new promises he is well aware of how these promises are read on the ground and how they are received on the ground.”
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What can be expected at the rally
The Real State of the Nation is all about getting those on the ground to have their voices heard as well as showing the government the nation can come together. The larger the rally, the greater the message that will be sent.
“What we want to do is give people who are working on the ground a platform for them to express the real state of the communities in which they are working … We want to show as Defend our Democracy, the organising power of the South African people. Fortunately, we are a participatory democracy. So we don’t only vote every fourth every fifth year. We must continuously be in conversation with the state and this is part of that conversation. The more of us there are, the more powerful our voice will be.”
For those who wish to attend, they need to register first. This is to keep a count of the numbers and also for the safety of the people who are there. Mntambo has each and everyone to come out and have their voices heard. It is high time the government understands how their decisions have impacted those on the ground. The greater the number, the stronger the message and hopefully it will get to those in the right places.
To hear what Nonkululeko Mntambo believes South Africans are expecting from the SONA and the government, listen to the podcast here
