On the 7th of February 2019, President Cyril Ramaphosa will be delivering his speech on the State Of The Nation Address. The whole world will be listening attentively to the speech and expecting some solutions to the problems that faces our country. Here are some I expect to hear from his address.

STATE CAPTURE INQUIRY

It seems like most government officials are implicated in state capture. I would like the President to clarify what is going to happen to all those who benefited illegally from government resources. Changes to the cabinet would be a change for the country like all those who were found guilty should be removed from their positions instead of just reshuffled into newer positions. The brave and shocking testimonies from those at the Inquiry of money-filled Louis Vuitton bags and home improvements called “special projects”, demonstrates how the country is being bled dry all in the name of…

CORRUPTION

The biggest problem we have is that we are being led by people who are power-hungry and selfish. Since the Political Party Funding Bill has been passed into law, I want the President to urge all political parties to come forward and disclose all the information about where they get their money from and how they spend it. This will be a great chance for President Ramaphosa to lead from the front and show that he is serious about fighting corruption that plagues South Africa.  

ECONOMY

According to Stats SA last year’s economy grew by 2,2% in the 3rd quarter of 2018. At the end last year we faced the challenge of rising food prices, tax and petrol. How will government maintain South Africa’s economy going forward?
During the 2015 SONA, former President Jacob Zuma promised to unlock the potential of small, medium and micro enterprises as well as township and rural enterprises. At this year’s SONA, I expect an update of those promises and how far government has come with the promises made in previous years.

EDUCATION

These days teachers are not respected by students. There is so much violence in our schools and students are even killing teachers or beating them in front of their classmates. Last year a 24 year old teacher was stabbed to death by a 17 year old student at Ramotshere Technical Secondary School in Zeerust, North West. The teacher was stabbed after he scoled at the student for skipping the queue at the school’s feeding program. We need some form of action against violence in schools whether it be in the form of stricter laws or the introduction of security on school premises.

UNEMPLOYMENT

According to a Stats SA report of January 2019, unemployment has decreased by 0.9% which stood at 52.80% and in the first quarter of 2018, it stood at 53.70%. I call on government to increase sustainable youth development programmes where everyone who is unemployed would benefit. If government is serious about growing the economy, they should invest in youth who make up a large part of the population and who are the future leaders of this country. Programmes like EPWP have failed as it doesn’t offer a sustainable opportunity for employment and skills training. We look forward to hearing what are going to be implemented in terms of unemployment instead of another 9 Point Plan on what they aspire to achieve.

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