STAFF REPORTER
LABOUR federation COSATU has high expectations for President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Thursday in Cape Town, Western Cape.
The federation said workers and society at large were battling to cope with a 43% unemployment rate, rising levels of debt and an economy struggling to emerge from a deep recession.
It said these were made worse by 10 of load shedding a day, a deteriorating passenger and freight rail network under siege from criminal syndicates, rampant levels of crime and corruption, and dysfunctional municipalities unable to provide basic services.
COSATU spokesperson, Sizwe Pamla, said in order to restore hope, the SONA needs to present a clear program and set clear implementation benchmarks and timeframes.
“The government also needs to account for the implementation of the 2022 SONA commitments as part of building society’s confidence,” said Pamla.
“The economy cannot grow, and unemployment cannot be reduced with continuous loadshedding. The Lekgotla recommendation for the declaration of a state of disaster needs to be officially implemented.”
Pamla said the government needs to ensure Eskom has all the resources and authority at hand to reduce load shedding, ramp up targeted high impact maintenance and bring on board new generation capacity.
“They also need to slash Eskom’s debt burden and plug its fiscal holes and tackle the corruption and criminality crippling Eskom,” he said.
“Similar interventions are needed at Transnet and Metrorail, which are key to growing the mining, manufacturing, and agricultural sectors as well as to the urban economy. Equally government needs to come with clear turnaround plans for the Post Office, SABC, DENEL and other embattled but once thriving SOEs.”
Pamla also said the Presidential Employment Stimulus Program needs to be doubled in the February Budget Speech to accommodate at least 1 million participants, and then 2 million by the October Medium Term Budget Policy Statement.
He said the Special Relief Dispensation (SRD) Grant has been the source of relief to millions of unemployed persons and administrative glitches that have bedevilled it need to be resolved to ensure all unemployed persons receive it.
“This needs to be raised to the Food Poverty Line and utilised as a foundation for the Basic Income Grant,” said Pamla.
He said the chaos in local government was bleeding Eskom R57 billion and rising, adding that particular attention was needed to the provision of clean and accessible water.
Meanwhile, Speaker of the National Assembly, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, assured South Africans that preparations for the hosting of the SONA on Thursday are well underway.
At a media briefing on Tuesday at the Imbizo Media Centre in Cape Town, the Speaker thanked the City of Cape Town for availing the City Hall for this year’s Joint Sitting of the two Houses of Parliament, and for the hosting of the State of the Nation Address.
President Cyril Ramaphosa will deliver the 2023 SONA at the Cape Town City Hall. His address is scheduled to start at 7pm.
Mapisa-Nqakula said the City has handed over the City Hall to Parliament.
“The City Hall is now officially a precinct of Parliament, as per the definition of the precincts of Parliament provided for in Section 2 of the Powers, Privileges, and Immunities of Parliament and Provincial Legislatures Act.”
Mapisa-Nqakula said in addition to the State of the Nation Address, the Hall will also host the two-day debate on the President’s address by the Joint Sitting of the Houses, the reply to the debate by the President and the Budget Speech by the Minister of Finance on Wednesday, 22 February.
The Speaker explained that the theme under which the Joint Sitting of Parliament will be held remains the sixth Parliament’s focus, which is ‘Following up on our commitments to the people: Making your future work better’.
According to the Speaker, the 2023 State of the Nation Address will be fully physical and all attendees, including Members of Parliament and invited guests, will be present in the Chamber and the public gallery.
“We can confirm that similar to last year, this year’s proceedings of SONA 2023 will follow the full ceremony format.
“Activities undertaken and observed during a full ceremony include the Flame Guard, the 21-gun salute, an aircraft flypast, the lining of the route, the Ceremonial Guard, the Salute of the Step Guard, the singing of the National Anthem, the full Military Band and the ceremonial processions of the Provincial Speakers, Premiers, the Judiciary, the Deputy President and the President.
“The President will take a salute at the platform prepared in front of the statue of uTata Madiba, which is on the balcony of the City Hall, where he will observe the singing of the National Anthem by the South African National Defence Force Military Band, synchronised with the 21-gun salute and flypast,” Mapisa-Nqakula said.
Logistics
Over 650 members of the media have been accredited to cover the event. The names of the accredited members of the media were published on Parliament’s official website last week, with details of areas to collect the access tags.
The Parliamentary Broadcast and Audio Visual Unit will provide a broadcast feed to all television stations that will be broadcasting from the precinct. The Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) will provide an audio feed for all radio stations.
This will be the second year the City Hall hosts the State of the Nation Address after a fire destroyed parts of the Parliamentary building.
The fire affected both the Old Assembly Wing and the National Assembly Wing, which house the chambers of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces.
INSIDE POLITICS. Additional reporting by SA NEWS.
