Cyril Ramaphosa faces tough questions as he defends SONA amid fierce criticism

After two days of heated debate at a joint sitting of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces, President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to take the hot seat on Thursday afternoon to respond to MPs’ criticism of his State of the Nation Address (SONA).

The two-day debate saw members of Parliament scrutinise and criticise Ramaphosa’s address, delivered last week. 

Although Ramaphosa announced several measures to tackle the country’s pressing challenges, opposition parties strongly opposed the proposals.

Many accused him of repeatedly making promises he failed to fulfil.

He will respond to the debate on Thursday afternoon.

On Wednesday, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation and ANC MP Ronald Lamola said the Democratic Alliance (DA) must decide whether it wants to be in government or in opposition, arguing it cannot be both.

Lamola was responding to a speech by DA MP Baxolile Nodada.

“Honourable Nodada, everything you have just claimed here was started by the ANC sixth administration. You cannot have your cake and eat it,” Lamola said.

“The DA needs to decide whether it is in government or it is in opposition. You cannot be both. In this House, we are confronted by two dangerous extremes.”

He described one as the extreme left and the other as the extreme right, saying both were “counter-revolutionary” and led to destruction and polarisation in society.

Nodada said the DA joined the Government of National Unity (GNU), led by the ANC, saying it wanted to “rescue South Africa, arrest, decline and rebuild the country”, while challenging failed policies of the past and stopping what it described as “MK and EFF chaos”.

Tensions have persisted within the GNU amid policy differences between the ANC and the DA. 

The DA has repeatedly threatened to withdraw from the coalition but has remained, saying it aims to grow the economy, create jobs and fight corruption.

Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) MP Sihle Lonzi announced that the party would rally unemployed youth to physically deliver CVs to the Union Buildings, Parliament and the office of Mineral and Petroleum Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe in search of employment opportunities.

Holding a stack of CVs in both hands, Lonzi said they belonged to unemployed graduates and other young people who had been unable to find work due to not having their qualifications as they were still owing institutions of higher education.

“It is a lie that they are lazy. It is a lie that they sit at home and bask under the sun like Honourable Gwede Mantashe suggests,” he said.

Mantashe faced criticism last month after saying young people were “too lazy to look for jobs and wanted the government to provide them”.

Lonzi reiterated the EFF’s plan to mobilise unemployed youth to submit CVs directly to government offices.

“From now onwards, we are going to rally the youth of South Africa to physically deliver CVs at the doors of the Union Buildings, at Parliament and at the office of Honourable Gwede Mantashe,” he said.

“We are going to publicly share your official email addresses – not the fake ones you put on Google – so that the youth can send you their CVs every day until you take the struggle of joblessness seriously.”

Limpopo Premier Dr Phophi Ramathuba told MPs that scenes of hundreds of young people queuing to apply for military posts in Thohoyandou were a wake-up call and underscored the urgent need to create job opportunities.

Ramathuba, an ANC member, said the surge in applications for the South African National Defence Force’s Military Skills Development System highlighted the need to change the status quo.

A day after the SANDF opened applications for its 2027 intake, hundreds of young people flocked to Thohoyandou Stadium to submit CVs and application forms for the two-year programme. Applications opened on February 16 and will close on March 27.

“While we are registering progress, we are not satisfied with the pace,” Ramathuba said.

“The current situation, where we have seen many youths from all over the country queuing at the SANDF site in Thohoyandou to submit their CVs, is a wake-up call to those of us honoured with responsibilities to change the status quo.”

Basic Education minister and DA MP Siviwe Gwarube praised Ramaphosa’s SONA while acknowledging ongoing challenges in her department, including severe fiscal constraints.

Gwarube said the address signalled a new chapter for South Africa, marked by a shared commitment to delivery, stability and progress.

“The Government of National Unity is demonstrating that it is possible to work across political lines to stabilise the country, grow the economy and create jobs,” she said.

“It is possible to place the people at the heart of what we do and to commit ourselves to serving those who have waited too long for change.”

On Tuesday, DA chief whip George Michalakis criticised Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi for saying he had experienced water shortages and was once forced to bathe at a hotel, calling the remark “stupid” and saying it should earn him a “golden shower at the ballot box”.

With local government elections approaching, Michalakis said Ramaphosa’s SONA risked ending up like the “dry water taps in Johannesburg” if the economy did not grow significantly.

He also criticised Lesufi, who did not attend this year’s SONA debate, over his comments amid Gauteng’s water crisis.

“It’s ironic, Mr President, that you told the minister who lives to dress up for SONA that she should rather be in Gauteng to sort out the water,” Michalakis said, referring to Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina.

Ramaphosa last week instructed Majodina and Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa to urgently address Johannesburg’s water crisis instead of attending SONA.

“May he (referring to Lesifi) be rewarded with a golden shower at the ballot box for such a stupid comment, because it is clearly only at the ballot box where solutions can be found,” Michalakis said.

Patriotic Alliance (PA) leader and minister of sports, arts and culture, Gayton McKenzie praised Ramaphosa and said opposition parties against the GNU had no place, arguing that coalition partners were working well together.

“The GNU is working because all parties are working very nicely together. The GNU is the best,” McKenzie said.

He also welcomed the deployment of the SANDF to Gauteng, Western Cape and Eastern Cape to combat organised crime and illegal mining.

Meanwhile, EFF leader Julius Malema warned Ramaphosa that the Phala Phala scandal “will never die” as long as his party remains in Parliament.

“Let me reassure you, Mr President: as long as the EFF is alive and in Parliament, Phala Phala will never die,” Malema said.

The EFF has long called for the Constitutional Court to release its delayed judgment in the matter, which centres on the 2020 theft of an estimated R10m from Ramaphosa’s farm and allegations of a cover-up. 

The party argues that delays in the impeachment-related case, heard in November 2024, have eroded public confidence in the judiciary.

Malema also criticised Majodina for failing to address water shortages.

uMkhonto weSizwe Party MP Des van Rooyen said voters across all provinces had asked the party to tell Ramaphosa that his unfulfilled promises would cost the ANC dearly in this year’s local government elections.

“Because of your promises, they will ensure your party is severely punished in this year’s local government elections,” he said.

Van Rooyen said the address lasted more than two hours and cost more than R7m from the national fiscus.

“It was not a State of the Nation Address. It was a State of Intent Address,” he said.

“It described plans, committees, trustees, another investment summit and what the government hopes to do.”

simon.majadibodu@iol.co.za

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