Malema: Ramaphosa’s SONA repeats empty promises
EFF Leader Julius Malema on Tuesday criticised President Cyril Ramaphosa for delivering his 8th State of the Nation Address (SONA) as if it were his first.
Malema was speaking during the SONA debate in Cape Town.
He accused Ramaphosa of failing to address South Africa's ongoing economic crisis, amongst others.
"There was no sense of accountability, no meaningful reporting, and no acknowledgment of the economic crisis facing our people," he said.
According to him, Ramaphosa did not provide updates on the National Development Plan (NDP) or whether it was still guiding the country’s policy.
"Today, we have the Medium-Term Development Plan, but its direction and impact remain unclear—just another failed NDP."
He criticised the lack of a clear economic plan. " There is no clear strategy to create jobs while more than 12 million people remain unemployed, the economy is stagnant, and these are undeniable facts. We are facing a crisis as a nation."
Malema went on to list the various crises facing the country.
"The crisis of high food prices. The crisis of unaffordable transport costs. The crisis of soaring petrol prices. The crisis of gender-based violence and femicide, and the collapse of the National Gender-Based Violence Command Centre without an explanation," he said.
He further pointed out water shortages, inadequate housing and collapsed municipalities. Along with that, he questioned Ramaphosa’s past promises.
"In 2018, you said you would focus on rebuilding, yet things only got worse for our people. In 2019, you said ‘Thuma Mina’—the nation sent you, but to this day, we do not know what you went and did," Malema said.
"It was in 2019, when you stood before South Africa after asking us to send you, and you promised the nation speed trains and a smart city.
Malema also criticised Ramaphosa’s inability to address state capture and corruption.
"You said 2020 would be the year of tackling state capture and ensuring accountability, yet not a single person has been arrested despite the R1 billion spent on the Zondo Commission report.
In 2021, you declared it the year of recovery, yet South Africa’s economy deteriorated further, with economic growth falling below 1%, except for the brief rebound following the reopening after COVID-19, which collapsed almost immediately," Malema added.
"In 2022, you claimed you would address governance failures, yet corruption and malfeasance continue to define all spheres of the state—including, now, even the judiciary.
We listened to you in 2023 when you called on the nation to ‘work together,’ yet it was your own political party, the former liberation movement, that continued to deploy incompetent comrades to municipalities, boards of state-owned enterprises, provincial departments, and national government," Malema said.
"And when you tried to tell us the story of Tintswalo in 2024, we told you right there and then that you were talking about a Tintswalo who does not exist.
The real Tintswalo was born in a shack, raped at the age of six, dropped out of school before reaching Grade 7, and was murdered while looking for a job," Malema concluded.
Meanwhile, ANC Parliamentary Chief Whip Mdumiseni Ntuli praised Ramaphosa’s address, saying it was focused and directed.
"Given the important challenges we continue to face, the ANC steadfastly believes that this leadership echelon gathered here and representing all spheres of our government, must continue to be driven by a sense of urgency in everything we do, in responding to the plights of our people and Black People in general, who continue to endure the hardship of the apartheid legacy," he said.
Ntuli praised Ramaphosa for signing the BELA, NHI, and Expropriation Acts into law, saying the ANC has a duty to uphold its policies against critics.
"The ANC Manifesto, which serves as a binding contract between the African National Congress and the people of South Africa, outlines six key priorities.
Madam Speaker, I am pleased to see that the State of the Nation Address delivered by the President has effectively incorporated these priorities, elevating them as central to the democratic state.
This Parliament will ensure that both the President and his government spare no effort or energy in implementing these national priorities.
Of particular importance is the fact that the principal leader of the National Democratic Revolution, the ANC, has an absolute and binding obligation to defend the correctness of its policy perspectives against any detractors, both domestically and internationally," he said.
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