President Cyril Ramaphosa will deliver the State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Thursday. Picture: Carmag.co.za
South Africans are preparing for the first State of the Nation Address (SONA) of the seventh administration and of the Government of National Unity (GNU).
President Cyril Ramaphosa will deliver the SONA in Cape Town at 7pm on Thursday at the Cape Town City Hall.
The address has been taking place at the City venue as the National Assembly Building remains under construction following a blaze on January 2, 2022.
SONA will take place before a joint sitting of the two houses of Parliament and brings the three arms of State – the Executive (President, Deputy President and Ministers); Judiciary (Chief Justice and Judge Presidents); and Legislature (Members of Parliament). Provincial and local governments will also be present for the address.
During the SONA, the President is expected to lay out key policy objectives and deliverables for the year ahead, highlight achievements of the past year, and outline challenges and interventions. The President is also expected to provide an update in the country’s Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan (ERRP).
The SONA takes place annually, marking the opening of the Parliamentary programme, and in which the President addresses the nation on the programmes of the government. The speech sets out the government’s agenda for the year, outlining key priorities of the new administration.
Salaamedia spoke to a few South Africans on their expectations for this year’s SONA.
Nomawabo Gqwala, 49, from Mfuleni said she hoped the President would make job creation particularly for poorer South Africans a key objective. Gqwala is a single parent of three and grandmother of three.
“I think the big problem in South Africa, if you’re not educated, it’s not easy to get a job, any job. I have been struggling for a long time, I think more than 10 years.”
SMread: Cape Flats Book Festival: A literary movement in Mitchells Plain
Adeseye Adeleke, 30, from Nigeria currently residing in Milnerton, has been living in South Africa for four years.
He said the lack of accurate information and channels to access key information, made it hard for a foreign national to seek out stability and better opportunities in South Africa.
“There is the internet but people don’t know because there’s a lot of scams on the internet right now, so people don’t know the best website or the best place to go to get the right information.
He also said there was a need for consular services in Cape Town, not just for Nigerians but for other foreign nationals as well.
“If you need to do anything about your passport, the embassy is in Pretoria or Johannesburg. So how do you expect someone struggling to get there? It’s not going to be so easy for you as a foreigner moving from one place to another.
“South Africa is a blessed country, so it should work on information because information is power. If you get the right information, you’ll be able to navigate easily and do whatever you’d like to do. The country has a lot of options, like a lot of jobs and everything already so the best thing is just make the information available.”
Farieda Moses, 62, from Salt River in Cape Town, said. “We just wish he can talk about the pensioners who are suffering. The children suffering, the nation actually, all suffering in South Africa and it’s heartbreaking. And he must talk about the electricity that goes on and off. There are a lot of things he has to talk about… Poor people are suffering, food goes up, petrol goes up, electricity goes up, water goes up… He must talk about serious things to the nation and he must talk honestly to South Africans.”