Cape Town - Opposition parties gave a scathing response to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address (Sona).
They said his office was blighted by a myriad failures, equated his term to former President Jacob Zuma’s, and said conditions, among other things, were ripe for a “revolution”.
Leader of opposition DA MP John Steenhuisen said South Africa would “cross the Rubicon” without Ramaphosa come the 2024 general elections.
He said if Zuma’s presidency was disastrous, Ramaphosa’s was a “farce”.
He said South Africa had six days of load shedding in 2018, 22 in 2019, 35 in 2020, 48 in 2021, 157 in 2022, and the “shameful record” of daily rolling power outages this year.
Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele said the DA ignored facts, such as diversified energy sources, and included the private sector in the future of energy generation. He said Operation Vulindlela debunked all the DA’s claims, such as its perceived ANC “obsession” with state control.
Gungubele echoed statements Ramaphosa made in Sona, which the minister hailed as “historic”.
GOOD Party MP Brett Herron supported Ramaphosa’s address, but was apprehensive about some aspects.
EFF president Julius Malema said the government had, since 1994, failed to address the unemployment crisis, rendering social grants useless in addressing poverty.
He and EFF secretary-general Marshall Dlamini traded accusations with Police Minister Bheki Cele, with Malema noting that crime was on the up and labelled the minister a “fool”, which he was ordered to retract.
Malema championed the EFF-planned March 20 shutdown, even urging outgoing Deputy President David Mabuza to tag along.
IFP MP Narend Singh said the government had toed-and-froed with its plans, reneged on promises, and stood still while South Africa “burns”. He cast doubt on whether the ANC could claw the country back from disaster.
Singh said: “You (Ramaphosa) are right that we’re not people who are easily resigned to our fate, but how long will it be before you have a revolution on your hands?”
Outside Parliament, Premier Alan Winde said the debate came at a critical time, as South Africa was wedged in several disasters. He said Ramaphosa had been the ultimate political head of Eskom for almost 3 000 days, but now resided over the worst load shedding.
Reviewing Ramaphosa’s plans for Eskom, Winde said: “Every detail that’s being put on the table is rubbish.”
The plenary continues today, while Ramaphosa is expected to address MPs tomorrow.