South Africa’s opposition leaders have warned President Cyril Ramaphosa that the pledges made during his State of the Nation Address (SONA) must translate into action — not rhetoric.
Following Thursday’s address before Parliament in Cape Town, political parties across the spectrum questioned whether the commitments would be backed by delivery, especially with elections looming.
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Ramaphosa’s SONA Under Fire: “Task Teams After Task Teams”
Julius Malema, leader of the EFF, accused the president of recycling old commitments.
Speaking after the address, Malema said that aside from the announcement that the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) would be deployed to gang-affected communities, he had “heard everything else before”.
“Today, the difference is that he’s saying them with energy,” Malema said.
He also criticised the president’s continued reliance on task teams. Ramaphosa revealed that specialised groups have been formed to deal with the foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreak and to drive the restructuring of Eskom, including the creation of a fully independent transmission entity.
“And this thing of task teams – task team after task team – it’s a person who’s failing to execute their own responsibility, and they shift it to other people,” Malema said. “So, it’s a confirmation that he doesn’t have the necessary capacity in the government of national unity to deal with issues that he wants to deal with. So, we are here again, listening to a man who is using a government platform during an election year to launch a campaign, to campaign for his political party.”
Budget Will Be the Real Test, Says Rise Mzansi
Songezo Zibi, leader of Rise Mzansi, said there were no unexpected announcements in the speech. What matters now, he said, is “urgency, care and accountability”.
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“We have heard big promises made in the past, yet when the Budget is delivered weeks later, there is rarely an indication that the government has aligned its funding with its commitments,” Zibi said.
“The talking is over. It is now time to urgently deliver, care for the people and hold accountable those who betray our constitutional principles and values.”
Zibi added that he would withhold full judgment until the national Budget is tabled.
In the Eastern Cape, Athol Trollip of ActionSA described the speech as better than expected, saying it contained “less fairytales” and addressed “a lot of issues”.
“I think he was very candid about the state of local government, and how broken it is and how systematically, it’s been broken over the last 30 years,” Trollip said.
“But he accepted no responsibility for that. It’s his government that has broken local government.”
Trollip, a former mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay, noted that although the president spoke extensively about fixing water infrastructure, the intervention comes late.
He pointed out that the Vaal River systems are full, yet many households still experience dry taps.
DA Backs Delivery Plan as SANDF Deployment Looms
John Steenhuisen, leader of the DA, characterised the address as “solid” and distinct from earlier SONA speeches.
“There wasn’t any fancy gimmicks or structuring, it got down to the brass tacks of what is wrong and what needs to be done,” Steenhuisen said.
He added that several initiatives mentioned reflected work driven by the DA, and stressed that implementation must now follow.
Speaking in his capacity as Minister of Agriculture, Steenhuisen addressed government efforts to contain the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak. He confirmed that millions of vaccines are being sourced from three international suppliers.
“The first million is going arrive in the next five to seven days, and then we’ll roll that out. But it will obviously be a process that involves the private veterinarians and animal health technicians,” he said.
According to Steenhuisen, the programme will operate through a public-private partnership, targeting 80% vaccination coverage of affected herds by year-end and aiming to reduce FMD cases by 70%.
“We’re confident now that we have the vaccines – excellent vaccines from Argentina, from Turkiye, from Botswana – but also our own locally produced vaccines, that, for the first time, are going to be rolled out in the field.”
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Meanwhile, Deputy Defence Minister Bantu Holomisa confirmed preparations are underway to deploy SANDF members to crime-hit communities.
He said the operation could begin within two weeks and urged residents to cooperate with soldiers once they are on the ground.
As political leaders digest the president’s commitments, attention now shifts to the Budget — where funding allocations will reveal whether SONA’s promises carry real weight or fade into familiar political theatre.
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